Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie will be hosting two international artists for creation residencies in the first half of September.

Alessandra Calò (photography) from Italy and Taïssia Froidure (sound art) from France will survey the Gaspé coastline in order to draw inspiration from the region and produce works that will be presented next year, at the 16th edition of Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie.

The author France Cayouette, a local artist and resident of Carleton-sur-Mer, will participate in Alessandra Calò’s project throughout her creation stay. Their collaboration will give rise to short poetic texts designed to accompany images created by the guest artist.

About the artists

Alessandra Calò is a self-taught photographer. Since the outset of her career she’s experimented with the use of new languages that enable her to dig deeper into themes having to do with memory and identity. The predominant practice in her work is the recovery and reinterpretation of archival materials. Not for her a nostalgic evocation of the past, but instead, a new vision of reality. Her works are part of prestigious collections and have been presented at international exhibitions and festivals.

In this case the artist is appealing to residents to collect archive photos taken in the Gaspé region that would inspire her in her creation. Here are the details of her appeal to those who might like to contribute to her project : Facebook event .

Her residency in the Gaspé is supported by the Italian Institute of Culture in Montreal.

Taïssia Froidure is a sound artist from France. After studies in contemporary history, sound engineering and classical music, she became a sound director for French radio. There she worked on documentary programming and created podcasts narrating works of fiction. In her artist residencies and armed with her microphones she listens to and questions inhabitants and the spaces where they live, play and dream, weaving sound pieces that bear witness to the life of rural areas. She shapes the sound like a material and uses public space as a setting for experimentation and for the dissemination of her sound installations, in collaboration with the people inhabiting the villages she passes through.

During her stay, the artist intends to draw her inspiration from the role of the lighthouse, sentinel and lookout for the women and men of the Gaspé Peninsula. What future shipwrecks must the lighthouse protect us from?

Her residency is being organized in the framework of exchange residencies carried out with Pôle photographique Diaphane, the French partner of Rencontres.

France Cayouette, author, lives in Carleton-sur-Mer. After a career teaching literature and creative writing at the collegiate level, she now runs writing workshops and offers different forms of guidance in that area.

Her three poetry collections have been issued by Éditions du Noroît: Jolie vente de débarras, Voix indigènes and Doublure du monde. She’s also published two haiku collections with Éditions David: La lenteur au bout de l’aile and Verser la lumière. In 2020, in tandem with the artist Esther Thériault, she presented the haiga exhibit Encrer l’instant. The book Ada et la sandale de mer, a storywritten in collaboration with children from Carleton-sur-Mer and illustrated by Catherine Côte, appeared in 2023.

The links between exterior and interior landscapes, the sacred that finds its way into everyday life, and beauty as a pathway to elevation are at the heart of her approach.

Top image : Alessandra Calò