“Our associations with French and German organizations, as well as with events, artist centers and gallery owners from Québec and abroad, have all borne fruit,” states executive and artistic director Claude Goulet. “These activities have made it possible to inscribe Rencontres and, because of that, the Gaspé itself, in an enormous network at the service of artists and of creation.” Rencontres truly took its place this year among the great photography events, nationally and internationally. “We’re collaborating with among others the gallery C/O Berlin (Germany), FotoFest in Houston, Texas, the gallery Le Réverbère in Lyon, France, but also, in Québec, with Joyce Yahouda Gallery and Maison de la culture Frontenac in Montréal, and with Espace F in Matane.”

The artists, researchers and other professionals in the visual arts who took part in the roundtables of the Photographer Tour, which ran from August 15 to 19, also proved to be excellent ambassadors for Rencontres and for the region. More and more recognized artists from around the world have positive echoes of the event and are happy to travel to the Gaspé to take part in it. “Some of them carry out creation residencies here,” Mr. Goulet reminds us. “The result of their work is then disseminated not only in the Gaspé but elsewhere in the world as well.”

The standing of Rencontres was also heightened thanks to a broadened media coverage, notably in the major daily Québec newspapers, in addition to magazines and specialized websites like L’Œil de la photographie (Paris, France), Profession Photographe (Le Mans, France), Actuphoto (Paris, France), Ciel variable (Montreal), Vie des Arts (Montreal) and Photo Solution (Québec City). Moreover, record traffic was recorded on the website – with 34 percent of visitors hailing from abroad – as well as on the Facebook page and the Rencontres Vimeo account.

Towards the 6th edition…

The artist residencies held as part of Rencontres allow the Gaspé territory to be used in the service of creation all year long, above and beyond the summertime activities. From September 20 to October 3, photographer Bogdan Konopka – Polish-born, based in France – will carry out a residency in Gaspé territory. His work will be exhibited in the region during the summer of 2015 at the 6th edition of Rencontres, and the same season in France, at Promenades photographiques in Vendôme.

It will be recalled that for six years, Rencontres internationales de la photographie en Gaspésie has undertaken, with artists and with their partners, the major project of establishing itself throughout the territory and creating each year a true circuit devoted to contemporary art. In championing photography, its language, its codes and its various esthetics, the event has put in place an organization stretching over 800 kilometers, in 21 sites distributed in 14 host towns.

The theme also serves as a pretext for presenting the body of work of the different artists taking part in this year’s Rencontres.

Lovers of photography, the photo project #visibleinvisible wants you!

Send us your own interpretation of the theme. Here’s how.

1. Take a picture inspired by the theme.
2. Share it via Facebook, Twitter ou Instagram with the mention #visibleinvisible.
3. Follow-us on our social networks to enjoy the whole community’s photos.
4. Repeat the experience by sharing other photos!

Project Photo #visibleinvisible #photogaspesie

This year’s theme – “Visible. Invisible.” – gives free rein to the interpretation we bring to the photograph, to what it embodies in our day-to-day life, in our relationship with the real and our perception of the world. It also serves as a pretext to present the body of work of the different artists taking part in this 5th edition of Rencontres.

AVIGNON // In Matapedia, in Saint-Laurent-de-Matapédia church, the exhibit Nomad by Kitra Cahana (Montreal, Québec) will be held. In Miguasha, on the site of the national park, Donald Weber (Los Angeles, California) presents the exhibit Quniqjuk, Qunbuq, Quabaa. Carleton-sur-Mer will play host to four exhibits: Ice, by Flora (Paris, France), the fruit of an artist residency in the Gaspé in the winter of 2013, will be staged at the Vaste et Vague artist center; Changing the World, by Gilbert Garcin (Marseilles, France), at Saint-Joseph school; and also Volatile Slide and Other Disorders, by Maryse Goudreau (Miguasha, the Gaspé) and The Sensor, by Bertrand Carrière (Longueuil, Québec), on the municipal beach. In Maria, at Parc du Vieux-Quai, Helen Sear (Raglan, Wales, United Kingdom) will be exhibiting Pastoral Monuments and Inside the View, while Michael Flomen (Montreal, Québec) will be presenting Higher Ground. The Gesgapegiag reserve, meanwhile, will be hosting Tia’Mugwet (Moose Hunt) by Estelle Marcoux (Caplan, the Gaspé).

BONAVENTURE // In New Richmond, Pointe-Taylor park will present Fallen Princesses by Dina Goldstein (Vancouver, British Columbia). In Bonaventure, at the Saint-Bonaventure church, Jean-François Bérubé (Montreal, Québec) will exhibit part of the works of Bonum iter Compostellam (Have a good trip to Compostela). In Paspébiac, at the cultural center, Isabelle Hayeur (Rawdon, Québec) will present Mirages, while the warehouse LeBoutillier & Brothers on the Banc-de-Pêche-de-Paspébiac historical site will host Possible and Imaginary Lives by Yasmine Eid-Sabbagh and Rozenn Quéré (Brussels, Belgium).

ROCHER-PERCÉ // Chandler will offer The Girl Who Sees the Verses by Rina Vukobratovic (Novi Sad, Serbia) on the Parc du Souvenir road and Circuit des bâtisseurs bridge. Percé will be hosting, near the dock and on the promenade along the sea, Eyes on the Collection Loto-Québec, showing 35 years of Québec creation through the works of 23 photographers. On Bonaventure Island, Patrick Dionne and Miki Gingras (Montreal, Québec) will present Story Gatherers, the result of a creation residency in Percé during the spring and summer of 2014.

CÔTE-DE-GASPÉ // The town of Gaspé hosts another part of Bonum iter Compostellam (Have a good trip to Compostela) by Jean-François Bérubé (Montreal, Québec) on the Rue de la Reine. Linda Rutenberg (Montreal, Québec) has been presenting, since June, the exhibit The Gaspé Peninsula: Land on the Edge of Time at Musée de la Gaspésie (admission fee of $5 for Museum non-members). In Grande-Vallée, on the promenade towards the Galipeault covered bridge, the collective Kahem, composed of Québec photographers Charles-Frédérick Ouellet, Christian Lamontagne, Nicolas Levesque and Yoanis Menge, is presenting the exhibit 132.

HAUTE-GASPÉSIE // In Marsoui, at A.-Couturier park, Evgenia Arbugaeva (Yakutsk, Russia) is presenting her series Tiksi, which enjoyed great success in Bonaventure last year. Laurent Villeret (Paris, France) presents Heliotropes #7. Northbound at the Couturier building. And finally, at the municipal rest stop, Cap-Chat will be hosting Micronations by Léo Delafontaine (Paris, France).

A reminder that Rencontres internationales de la photographie en Gaspésie is an invitation to come out and meet artists in a region where photographs and landscapes come together around an artistic project. For more details: photogaspesie.ca.

Haute-Gaspésie // Cap-Chat will welcome At My Last Meal, by Sandra Lachance (Montreal, Québec), at the rest area. In Marsoui, Michael Wolf (Hong Kong, China) will exhibit his Tokyo Compression project in the Couturier building, while Sébastien Michaud (Montreal, Québec) presents Domaine de la Florida at A.-Couturier park. Lastly, a building in Sainte-Madeleine-de-la-Rivière-Madeleine will display a giant work from the project Murdochville: The Beauty of Destruction by Louis Couturier and Jacky Georges Lafargue (Carleton-sur-Mer, the Gaspé).

Côte-de-Gaspé // In Grande-Vallée, on the promenade towards the Galipeault covered bridge, Yves Beaulieu (Montréal, Québec) will present Quiproquo. In Gaspé, Alain Paiement (Montreal, Québec) will offer From a Different Angle at Musée de la Gaspésie, while rue de la Reine in the same town will welcome photographs from the city’s Festival Musique du Bout du Monde to mark the festival’s 10th anniversary. Finally, Murdochville will host a work from the project by Louis Couturier and Jacky Georges Lafargue about the town.

Rocher-Percé // Percé will be hosting, near the dock and on the promenade along the sea, The Gaspé, Wild, with Your Feet in the Water… by Frédéric Merlet (Mortagne-sur-Sèvre, France) and Cross-Perspectives by Gaspé native Guillaume D. Cyr (Quebec City, Québec), both the result of the exchange program called Gaspésie-Vendée Cross-Perspectives. Chandler will offer Memory (Woman Scenario) by Patrick Dionne and Miki Gingras (Montreal, Québec), on the Souvenir park road and the Circuit des bâtisseurs footbridge.

Bonaventure // in Paspébiac, at the Banc-de-Pêche-de-Paspébiac historical site, Beatrix von Conta (Peyrins, France) will be exhibiting The Great Divide. In Bonaventure, near the marina, Evgenia Arbugaeva (Iakoutsk, Russia) will present her series Tiksi. A work by Louis Couturier and Jacky Georges Lafargue about Murdochville will also be on exhibit close to the Musée acadien du Québec in Bonaventure. In New Richmond, the Gaspesian British Heritage Village will host Devonians by Jocelyne Alloucherie (Montreal, Québec), and the Pointe-Taylor park will present Depressive Landscapes by Armando Ribeiro (London, U.K.).

Avignon  // In Maria, at the Vieux-Quai park, Suzanne Opton (New York City) will be exhibiting Soldier and Soldier+Citizen.
Carleton-sur-Mer (Carleton sector) will host 0:00 GMT Intersection by the collective Tendance Floue (Montreuil, France) at the Centre d’artistes Vaste et Vague, and also Archipelago by Serge Clément (Montreal, Québec) at the municipal beach. In the Saint-Omer sector, at the tidal lagoon rest stop, Isabelle Hayeur (Rawdon, Québec) will exhibit Model Homes. At Nouvelle, on the Little School site, Yves Gonthier (Maria, the Gaspé) will be presenting Playing with Reality. In Matapédia, outside the Saint-Laurent-de-Matapédia church, photographs by Jean-François Lamoureux and Mathilde Fournier-Hébert (Montreal, Québec) will be on display. The results of their residency in the area this summer will be presented beginning August 15 inside the church.

A reminder that Rencontres internationales de la photographie en Gaspésie is an invitation to come meet these artists in a region where the photograph and the landscape come together around an artistic project.

More details: photogaspesie.ca.

Press relations in the Gaspé

Marie-Ève Forest, Communication Antilope

418 364-7008 | 581 886-1479

meforest@globetrotter.net

Press relations in Montreal and Quebec City

Patricia Lamy

514 912-7443

lamypat@videotron.ca

The 2013 Rencontres brings together artists who are interested in representing the real in ways that are distorted, transformed or modified, and in so doing stimulating new perceptions in viewers. Any number of avenues have been made available to the creators to consider the way in which individuals live in their environment and the manner in which they comprehend it.

At the heart of the event, the Photographer Tour will run from August 15 to 21. Some 30 photographers will take part in public get-togethers on the subject of creation, in the form of projections or lecture-discussions. The event will open at the Quai des arts in Carleton-sur-Mer, and then the Tour will continue towards the north shore of the Gaspé Peninsula, making its way to among other places the towns of Gaspé and Percé, and then on to Baie-des-Chaleurs.

The public is therefore invited to visit the installations and exhibits from July 10 to September 11 in 14 host municipalities: Cap-Chat, Marsoui, Grande-Vallée, Gaspé, Murdochville, Percé, Chandler, Paspébiac, Bonaventure, New Richmond, Maria, Carleton-sur-Mer, Nouvelle and Matapédia.

In 2012, Louis Couturier and Jacky George Lafargue spent ten days exploring the Murdochville copper mine and photographing that astonishing landscape. In Murdochville and Bonaventure they are presenting, under the title Murdochville: la beauté de la destruction (Murdochville: Beauty and Destruction), a series in which those mining landscapes are incorporated onto buildings.

In Saint-Omer, Isabelle Hayeur is exhibiting Maisons modèles (Model Homes). Her photographs of modest houses as well as luxury homes are transformed by computer and relocated to a new context. The aggregate is a survey of today’s suburbs, but is also intended as a portrait of society.

Alain Paiement, known for his architectural works made up of images joined together to reconstitute a place, invites us to the Musée de la Gaspésie in the town of Gaspé to see Sous un autre angle (From a Different Angle), which presents laid-out residential interiors and housing. The photos will be presented on the ground, with an unsettling effect on the viewer.

Other Quebecers: Patrick Dionne and Miki Gingras in Chandler with the exhibit Mémoire (Memory), and Serge Clément in Carleton-sur-Mer with the photo installation Archipel (Archipelago).

For details on all guest photographers: photogaspesie.ca/en/photographes.

Photo : Jocelyne Alloucherie

In the same municipality, Evgenia Arbugaeva, from Russia, presents the project Tiksi, which was carried out in her home town, a former Soviet military base, now abandoned. Her images speak of memory, of transformation, of exile…

Armando Ribeiro, from the U.K., explores concepts in his work relative to the evolution of the landscape, the global environment and the human condition. He will be exhibiting his Depressive Landscapes in New Richmond.
The American Suzanne Opton, meanwhile, is presenting Soldier and Soldier+Citizen in Maria, projects undertaken with young men and women in uniform who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. Opton photographed their heads, placed on a horizontal surface. The effect is striking.

For details on all guest photographers: photogaspesie.ca/en/photographes.

Photo : Michael Wolf