From July 15 to September 30, 2026, the Gaspésie will become both a playground and a space for reflection for the 17th edition of Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie, held on the theme WANDERINGS. This year, artistic director Claude Goulet brings together guest artists around the ephemeral, the fleeting, and the sensitive: a gesture, a light, a presence, a tension, a trace.
The festival will present 13 exhibitions across 11 partner municipalities, towns, and national parks throughout the Gaspé Peninsula. In total, 20 artists from Québec, elsewhere in Canada and abroad will take part in this edition, which offers an open-air photographic journey featuring exhibitions, installations and public encounters.
In the Haute-Gaspésie RCM, the town of Marsoui will host Domyaku (The Veins of the Earth) by Japanese photographer Ayumi Hayashi, presented outdoors at Alphonse-Couturier Park overlooking the river. In Mont-Louis, a partner of Rencontres for a second consecutive year, the public will discover There’s No Calm After the Storm by Italian visual artist Matteo de Mayda, also presented outdoors, along the shoreline facing the Auberge L’Amarré.
Fallen trees lifted by a helicopter from a path near Digonera (Belluno, Italy).
Thanks to partnerships developed with Japan, through the FOTOZOFIO festival and the Japan Foundation, and with Italy, through the Italian Cultural Institute in Montreal, Rencontres will welcome these two international artists during Rencontres on Tour in August. The public will have the opportunity to engage with them about their artistic practices and, in the case of Matteo de Mayda, his environmental commitment.
In the Côte-de-Gaspé RCM, Quebec documentary photographer Renaud Philippe will present Retomada near the Maison Horatio-Le Boutillier in Gaspé. First shown at the artist-run centre Vaste et Vague during the International Journalism Festival in Carleton-sur-Mer, this project continues its circulation in Gaspésie, gaining visibility as both a political and environmental work.
In the Rocher-Percé RCM, Gaspesian artist Maryse Goudreau and curator Noémie Fortin will be featured at Musée Le Chafaud in Percé with In the Eye of the Beluga. This indoor exhibition will be accessible from July 2 to September 26. It is produced in partnership with Galerie Foreman, Musée Le Chafaud, the Vaste et Vague artist center and Rencontres, with financial support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts.
In Chandler, the park in front of the Cantine du Chenal will host The Cloud Factory by documentary photographer and teacher Chris Donovan, originally from New Brunswick.
In the Bonaventure RCM, Vessels for the Archipelagic Memoryby Montreal-based artist Mallory Lowe Mpoka will be presented outdoors along the beach promenade in Paspébiac.
In the Avignon RCM, Maria will host (Un)Faces by Gaspesian photographer Jean-Christophe Liberge. Presented at Parc du Vieux-Quai, this exhibition stems from an artist residency carried out in the Avignon RCM as part of the Culture et Ruralité 2024 call for projects.
Three exhibitions will take place in Carleton-sur-Mer.
The series North End by French photographer Géraldine Lay will be presented at the Vaste et Vague artist center from July 25 to August 23, with the support of the Consulate General of France in Québec City.
STEADY RED LIGHT by French sound artist Taïssia Froidure will be presented in partnership with Diaphane, pôle photographique en Hauts-de-France at the Carleton lighthouse at Pointe Tracadigash. This immersive experience offers a different way to engage with the site’s history through recorded stories from local residents. Created between September 2024 and August 2026 with the participation of Gaspesian citizens, the work reflects a sensitive and collective approach.
Rencontres will also present Photo Books 2026: Stories in Images, a new exhibition dedicated to photobooks created by the guest artists of this 17th edition, as well as carefully selected recent publications by Québec artists. It will be on view from August 18 to September 11, 2026, at the Gabrielle-Bernard-Dubé Library.
In Nouvelle, the municipal rest area will host the outdoor exhibition Kiss Landing by Montreal-based photographer Fatine-Violette Sabiri, recipient of the 2025 Lynne Cohen Award.
The Battle of the Restigouche National Historic Site in Pointe-à-la-Croix will host the exhibition Beyond the Thresholds by the Mexican collective Bats’i Lab. Bringing together eight photographers – José Ángel Rodríguez, Magali Alanis Rodriguez Beaudoin, Isaac Guzmán, Pablo Farías, Diego Moreno, Barry Norris, Marcey Jacobson (1911–2009), and Maruch Sántiz Gómez – this project is presented in partnership with ESPACIO MÉXICO Montréal.
From left to right and top to bottom: Isaac Guzmán, José Ángel Rodríguez, Maruch Sántiz Gómez, Magali Alanis Rodriguez Beaudoin, Marcey Jacobson, Barry Norris, Diego Moreno, Pablo Farías
Finally, the work of Clara Lacasse will be presented at Saint-Laurent Church in Matapedia with Scent Hound, a photographic project resulting from a 2025 photographic mission on the contemporary landscape of Bas-Saint-Laurent, in collaboration with Espaces F in Matane and with support from Loto-Québec.
Rencontres on Tour
Always a highlight of the event, Rencontres on Tour will take place from Thursday, August 20, to Saturday, August 22, 2026. Over three days, the public will be able to attend free screenings, guided tours and creative exchanges as part of a program designed for art and nature enthusiasts. The full program will soon be available on our website.
Top image : Fatine-Violette Sabiri, Kiss Landing, Nounou at the hairdresser’s, Casablanca, November 2021