International Garden Festival – Hortillonnages Amiens

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An artistic and landscaped trip in the heart of The Hortillonnages of Amiens
> a beautiful aesthetic and poetic escape

In 2010, the “Maison de la Culture” of Amiens, then headed by Gilbert Fillinger, imagined a festival of landscape creations and installations of works of art in the very heart of the Amiens metropolis, on the islets of Hortillonnages. Scattered on this exceptional site, the artistic productions take an offbeat or poetic, funny or critical, but always new, look at this complex environment, on its history and its future, on the link between nature, culture, agriculture and heritage. Over the 10 editions, 140 works have been produced by 235 landscapers, architects and visual artists, and appreciated by more than 350,000 visitors.

For its 10th edition, the Art, Cities & Landscape Festival becomes the International garden festival – Hortillonnages Amiens, still in collaboration with the “Maison de la Culture” of Amiens. It is now the creation label art & jardins | Hauts-de-France which organizes the festival in the Hortillonnages. Conceived as a real instrument of support for young creation, the festival is more than ever anchored in the territory which it intends to promote and involve in the natural environment which it strives to protect.

The festival also aims to stimulate reflections on the issues of the contemporary world : how to preserve our natural resources and change our patterns of food consumption ? Which agricultural models should be favored ? What is the place of nature in the city and of man in nature ? Beyond the major environmental concerns, the festival is locally involved and hosts an integration project all year long, responsible for maintaining and cultivating the islands and plots presented to the public.

As every year, new public places are invested : from “Île aux Fagots” to Robinson peninsula, from Rivery pond to Clermont pond, festival-goers, residents and walkers discover around fifty gardens and installations imagined and produced by young artists – landscapers, architects and visual artists, attached to the protection and enhancement of natural environments such as Amiens floating gardens.

A beautiful aesthetic and poetic escape, an artistic stroll that extends outise of Amiens, on the banks of the Somme in Long and in Abbeville, or even fits into the urban landscape of Saint-Quentin : landscape creations to discover in all seasons.