The 15th Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie will take place this summer in 13 municipalities, towns and national parks on the peninsula with the theme “Transcending the commonplace.” Presented for the most part outdoors, the exhibits and installations will showcase the work of 18 artists from Québec and abroad, between July 15 and September 30 (with a few exceptions).
The theme chosen for this 15th edition has its roots in a meeting between Claude Goulet, artistic director of Rencontres, and Kinuko Asano, director of Galerie Écho 119, and the decision to organize an exhibit bringing together five Japanese artists for summer 2024. It was through their discussions, through artists’ proposals and the omnipresence of the everyday in their work that this idea of transcending the commonplace took hold.
“For two years we’ve been holding a dialogue with partners from Japan aimed at setting up creation platforms between our two countries. The 15 years of Rencontres are the opportunity to assemble a collective of Japanese artists as well as a series of publications of authors never presented in Québec.”
Beyond this exhibition of the Japanese collective, what will be featured this year are the creations stemming from artist residencies that took place on the Gaspé territory in 2023 and as part of our collaborations with Diaphane, pôle photographique en Hauts-de-France and our partners in other countries. Artists Maude Arsenault (Québec), Judith Bellavance (Québec), Robert Charlotte (Martinique), Lara Gasparotto (Belgium), Marine Lécuyer (France) and Chieko Shiraishi (Japan), among others, are enriching the programming for this 15th edition, along with authors Philippe Garon (Québec) and Patrice Juiff (France).
Rencontres on Tour
A lively weekend of public get-togethers on the subject of photographic creation, Rencontres on Tour will be held from August 30 to September 2, 2024. The itinerary offered for these three days of activities will be punctuated by discussions with the artists, guided tours of exhibits, video projections, and more. The complete programming will be announced in early August on the photogaspesie.ca website, in the Events section.
Two creation residencies are also planned in the Gaspé region following Rencontres on Tour.
Detailed programming
In the Côte-de-Gaspé RCM, Musée de la Gaspésie will be hosting a group exhibit of Japanese artists entitled Transcending the commonplace – Views from Japan. The exhibition will bring together photographic works by Chieko Shiraishi, Shin Noguchi, Yoshinori Mizutani and Mikiko Hara, and a video by Aki Goto. An exhibit assembling different works will also be presented outdoors, close to the Horacio-Le Boutillier house, west of the Birthplace of Canada buildings.
As for the Haute-Gaspésie RCM, the municipality of Marsoui will be welcoming Par-delà la brume (Beyond the Mist) by Robert Charlotte, a blend of landscapes and portraits of inhabitants, a visual journey that celebrates the ethereal beauty of Marsoui’s profound soul. This work is the result of a residency between Mont-Saint-Pierre and Marsoui.
From June 1 to October 6, 2024, a first collaboration with the Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens will present the work of Ewa Monika Zebrowski (Québec), whose exhibit Light and Fog is the result of a residency at this location.
In the MRC Avignon RCM, the Deux-Rivières Lookout will do service as an open-air museum when it hosts the works of Lara Gasparotto (Belgium). The Battle of the Restigouche national historic site in Pointe-à-la-Croix will exhibit To Winter There, the visual narrative created by Charles-Frédérick Ouellet (Québec) inspired by the expeditions of Louis Jolliet. At Nouvelle, in the Miguasha National Park, Mériol Lehmann (Québec) will pay tribute to the farmers of the Appalachians with De la friche comme résistance (Wasteland as Resistance), a work resulting from a photo mission in Centre-du-Québec.
In Chaleur Bay, the town of Carleton-sur-Mer is hosting Palimpsest of UnseenPasts on its wharf, a unique work by the artist Anahita Norouzi (Québec). In partnership with the Vaste et Vague artist center in Carleton-sur-Mer, Naviguer dans un océan de chair (Sailing through an Ocean of Flesh) by Maude Arsenault (Québec) is the result of a residency by the artist in the Gaspé Peninsula. The Parc du Vieux-Quai in Maria will see Jack’s Shed by Montreal artist Catherine Beaudette on exhibit.
In the Bonaventure RCM, at Taylor’s Point Park in New Richmond, visitors will get to admire the work of Josée Pedneault, Talle, a trip to the heart of the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region during wild fruit picking season. This work is part of the photographic missions.
And what could be better than the boardwalk in Paspébiac to bridge the gap with scenes of island life on Italy’s volcanic isles, captured through the lens of Luana Rigolli (Italy).
In the Roché-Percé RCM, Chandler will be hosting Andreas Rutkauskas (Canada), an artist from western Canada and author of Artifacts of Disturbance. The Charles-Robin historical sector in Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé National Park will welcome the exhibition Le grenier aux petites valises (The Little Suitcase Attic) by Judith Bellavance (Québec), and Préludes by Marine Lécuyer (France).
Top image : Group exhibit Transcending the commonplace – Views from Japan. With the participation of the artists: Aki Goto, Yoshinori Mizutani, Shin Noguchi, Chieko Shiraishi, Mikiko Hara