Grand-Métis Station by Le Bocal d'ABCP Architecture, Quebec (Quebec) Canada. A retired Montreal Métro MR-63 wagon that has been transformed into a colourful entranceway, Image Courtesy © Martin Bond 

MÉTIS-SUR-MONTRÉAL

The 2017 edition of Métis-sur-Montréal, presented at Place De La Dauversière, located between Château Ramezay and Place Jacques-Cartier, in front of Montréal City Hall, is an installation by the artist William Vazan, Traces – First Waterways, inspired by garden mazes, channels the multiple streams that wound through the island of Montréal before the arrival of Europeans. These rivulets, long since erased from the landscape by urbanization, infrastructure, and drought, are etched into the grass of Place De La Dauversière. 

The artist hopes to inspire those who experience the piece to ponder, “what the pre-colonial territory looked like when the Amerindians crossed the island of Montréal by river on a web of waterways.” William Vazan is a Canadian artist who has lived and worked in Montréal since 1957. He is internationally renowned for his land art practice, and distinguishes himself by working directly onsite, in nature, parks, and public spaces. Vazan is a canonical figure in Quebec’s conceptual art scene; his large-scale projects focus on expressing memories of places and the marks humans have left behind. Métis-sur-Montréal 2017 is presented in collaboration with Château Ramezay - Historic Site and Museum of Montréal. 

About the International Garden Festival

The International Garden Festival is the leading contemporary garden festival in North America. Since its inception in 2000, more than 175 gardens have been exhibited at Grand-Métis and as extra-mural projects in Canada and around the world. 

Presented at Les Jardins de Métis, at the gateway to the Gaspé Peninsula, the Festival is held on a site adjacent to the historic gardens created by Elsie Reford between 1926 and 1958, thereby establishing a bridge between history and modernity, and a dialogue between conservation, tradition and innovation. Each year the Festival exhibits about twenty conceptual gardens created by more than seventy architects, landscape architects and designers from various disciplines in a pristine environment on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. 

About the Reford Gardens / Jardins de Métis

A National Historic Site and Québec heritage site, the Reford Gardens / Jardins de Métis are an obligatory stop for all those visiting eastern Québec. Cultural attraction and tourist destination for 55 years, the Reford Gardens is one of the most popular attractions in the Gaspésie region, providing visitors with experiences for every sense. Located on the banks of the St. Lawrence and Mitis rivers, they are considered one of the great gardens of North America. Hydro-Québec has been the lead sponsor of the Reford Gardens since 1999. 

The Reford Gardens will be open every day up to October 8, 2017. Children 13 and under are admitted free of charge.