The International Garden Festival, presented at the Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens in the Gaspésie region of Québec, Canada is preparing its 21st edition and is issuing an international call for proposals to select designers who will create the new temporary gardens that will be presented from June 19, 2020. For its 21st edition, the Festival has chosen Métissages as its theme. Continuing the exploration of new ideas and new realms, the Festival is seeking to connect designers from various fields to favour a crossbreeding of practices and professions. 

Métissages has historically had negative connotations. In the Canadian context, Métis were often looked down upon as an inappropriate crossing of hard borders of race and religion. In the inter-racial and inter-disciplinary culture of the 21st century, métissages can create unique forms of beauty. The interplay of practitioners and practices can confront difference and foster creativity. The physical and cultural cross-breeding enlivens and encourages the emergence of new practices and projects. 

Cross-breeding in the context of contemporary gardens can be of practices (landscape architecture, garden design, architecture, visual arts, industrial design, cuisine and other fields of creative expression), plants (native or exotic) and materials (natural and manufactured). This mixity of approaches enriches and excites, creating new opportunities for exploration. 

The interactive spaces chosen through this competition will enthrall and envelop visitors. The installations can incorporate activities and events. They will transform the visitor from viewer to active participant. The Festival encourages participants to form multidisciplinary teams. Designers will be asked to imagine their garden for exhibition for at least two summers and to propose strategies for the repurposing or recycling of the garden or its materials after the end of its exhibition. 

This call for proposals is open to all landscape architects, architects, artists and multidisciplinary teams from Canada and abroad. The Festival encourages participants to form multidisciplinary teams. Applicants are limited to one proposal, either as individuals or as a team. Participants can be from a single city or country or cross international boundaries. Designers who have exhibited  a garden in one of the last three editions of the Festival are not eligible for this call for proposals. 

For complete information on this call for proposals, those interested should consult the web site: www.projects.internationalgardenfestival.ca

The deadline for the submission of entries is MONDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2019 at 5 pm EST. 

The International Garden Festival is recognized as one of the most important events of its kind in North America and one of the leading annual garden festivals in the world. Since 2000, more than one million visitors have discovered over 190 contemporary and ephemeral gardens created by designers from 15 countries. This artistic and tourism event also gives visitors a chance to discover inspiring spaces bringing together the visual arts, architecture, design, landscape and the environment. The Festival is an annual rendez-vous for admirers of contemporary gardens and design as well as offering a unique creative space for those involved in the renewal of this art form. 

Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens are located on the shores of the St. Lawrence and Mitis rivers in Québec, Canada. Created from 1926 to 1958 by avid gardener and plant collector, Elsie Reford, the gardens are a national historic site designated. Les Jardins de Métis are considered one of the premier gardens in North America. They are an obligatory stop for all those visiting eastern Québec and the Gaspésie region. Hydro-Québec has been a major partner of the Reford Gardens since 1999. Visit the www.refordgardens.com for more details.