artsiefartsiez: November 2013

International Mosaiculture Exhibition

Montreal - Summer 2013

Even if you’re not into gardening yourself, the plant sculptures in the international Montreal Mosaiculture Exhibition will blow your mind. As defined in the official website of the event, mosaiculture “is a refined horticultural art that involves creating and mounting living artworks made primarily from plants with colourful foliage (generally annuals, and occasionally perennials).” It is also a highly complex form of art, requiring different sets of skills from all the participating artists: not only do they have to plan and build the framework of the sculpture and match the colors, it is also important to understand the maintenance of each plant they use.

The Mosaïcultures Internationale competition was founded back in 2000 by Lise Cormier after her visit to China: this is where Lisa saw an enchanting 40-feet-high sculpture of 3 doves and was instantly inspired to bring the idea back home.

Considered the world’s most prestigious competition of horticultural art, the 2013 edition of Mosaiculture is currently on display at Montreal Botanical Garden in Quebec, Canada. More than three million flowers were raised in greenhouses throughout Quebec, and then shipped to the gardens in May, where designers wrapped them in steel meshes to create living works of art. The sculptures are created using steel or aluminum forms that are wrapped in metal mesh, filled with earth and planted with flowers, ivies and grasses whose foliage provides texture and color. Interior watering systems and growing medium were added so that the flowers could last all through the summer till the end of the exhibition on September 29.

Some 50 works graces the 2.2 km circuit through the enchanting grounds of the Botanical Garden. The theme this year is “Land of Hope”. About 200 of the world’s most talented horticultural artists are taking part in this international competition, representing 20 countries. Entries have come from cities in countries as far as Turkey and Uganda, with China and Japan heavily represented.

Barn Owl

Bird Tree. This huge sculpture is 40 feet high and they built special high bridge at this
end so people could take photographs more easily. Every branch becomes a different bird.
The wing span of the condor must be at least 8 feet.

Big Flowers. These are growing in the midst of the Exhibition Gardens, some of the
thirty gardens which comprise the Botanic Garden. Notice the bee.

Butterflies. They are about eight feet high and stand outside the Insectarium,
a building housing exhibits of insects.

Two Canoes. The theme of this year's show is the unity of nature and the
importance of ecological planning.

The Old Man Who Planted Trees, Horses, Dog, and Sheep
The Old Man is about 20 feet high.

Flock of Sheep, plus one goat. They are all part of a huge display around the
Man Who Planted Trees (below).

Single Sheep

Caterpillar, outside Insectarium

Easter Island Heads

Blow Fish Swimming through Seaweed

Crouching Frog and Lily Pond.

Frog in Lily Pond

Goat at Well

Horses and Sheep Dog. The dog is very famous in Japan and everyone knows him.
He accompanied his master to the railroad station ever morning when the man went
to work, and then the dog met him again in the evening. When the man died, the dog
continued meeting the train twice every day for ten years until he died. He is made up
of various decorative grasses. The horses' manes are also made of grasses.
The horses are twice the size of a normal horse; the dog is 8 feet high.