The International Garden Festival is launching a call for proposals for its 24th edition, to be held in June 2023. Gardening and land art enthusiasts are invited to apply—the selected projects will be featured in the temporary gardens of Les Jardins de Métis, also known as Reford Gardens.
In 2021, more than 60,000 visitors explored 25 garden installations under the theme "adaptation," in reference to the pandemic. Following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival returns with the theme "roots" and aims to highlight traditional knowledge. Designers are invited to imagine an environmentally, economically, and culturally responsible present and future based on the teachings of past generations.
With the advent of the digital age, globalization, and rapid technological advancement reshaping our relationship with time, this theme is an invitation to return to the essentials. It encourages the integration of native plants and local materials—whether reused or with limited environmental impact—as well as traditional construction methods, combined with a contemporary vision that encompasses both regional communities and ecosystems.
The winning projects—five will be selected in total—will be on display for at least two summers. Designers must also propose strategies for repurposing or recycling the garden or its materials after the exhibition concludes.
Although temporary garden exhibitions are uncommon in Brazil, the practice was recently introduced in the East Zone of São Paulo. Artist Jean Paul Ganem and permaculturist Bia Goll created 5,000-square-meter edible gardens—the installation occupied Guaratiba Linear Park in Guaianases between August and September of this year.
How to Apply
The call for proposals is open to all landscape architects, architects, visual artists, and multidisciplinary teams from Canada and abroad. The Festival encourages participants to form multidisciplinary teams. The deadline to submit proposals is November 29, 2022.
Canada's International Garden Festival is one of the world's leading annual gardening festivals. The event is held annually at Jardins de Métis, an English-style garden in Grand-Métis, Quebec. Now open to the public, the site was created between 1926 and 1958 by Elsie Reford, an avid gardener and plant collector.
Via CicloVivo.
This article was written by Marcia Sousa. The translation is powered by AI.
