Rencontres is proud to be integrating a component dedicated to the photographic book in its programming for a second consecutive year. The exhibition The Photographic Book, for which art historian and critic Serge Allaire is acting as curator, will be presented from August 18 to late September 2016 at Quai des arts in Carleton-sur-Mer.
The importance of the photographic book is already well established in major international fairs in Europe and the United States. For more than ten years, a number of international publications and events have stressed its importance as both a form of expression and as creation in its own right in photographic practice. For its 7th edition, Rencontres is sharing that viewpoint with a view to ensuring visibility for the photographic book and to awakening the interest of the general public as well as that of collectors in the value of the book as a form of expression and as a collectible item.
The exhibit will be officially inaugurated on August 19, 2016, following an interpretive activity in the presence of the curator and members of the PhotoBook Club in Montréal (Thomas Bouquin, Jean François Hamelin and Josée Schryer). The unveiling of the exhibition The Photographic Book will take place in the same spot at 5:00 p.m. These events coincide with the launch of the Photographer Tour, in the presence of the participating photographers – Quebecers, Canadians and those from abroad – as well as professionals and journalists.
The exhibit will consist of three components: the first will be devoted to photographers taking part in this 7th edition; the second will present a selection of recent publications by Québec and Canadian artists; and the third, a selection of books published by the French partner of Rencontres associated with the festival Les Photaumnales, Diaphane Éditions (Picardy, France).
At the end of the exhibit, Rencontres will offer all the books to the Gabrielle-Bernard-Dubé Library in Carleton-sur-Mer to enrich the collection there. In so doing, the organization will be pursuing its objectives of disseminating and showcasing the photographic book.
The exhibit curator and the directors of Rencontres extend their heartfelt thanks to the participating photographers and to the publishers who have so generously contributed to making this exhibit possible.