Les jardins de Chaumont-sur-Loire by Chantal COLLEU-DUMOND – Château de Bénouville

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Les jardins de Chaumont-sur-Loire by Chantal COLLEU-DUMOND – Château de Bénouville

The Gardens of Chaumont-sur-Loire

Located less than two hours from Paris and open all year round, the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, a Unesco world heritage site in the cultural landscapes category, offers exceptional views over the meandering river below amidst nature that has remained untamed for centuries. A historic park, the Vallon des Brumes, the Prés du Goualoup, an experimental vegetable plot, permanent and fleeting gardens… The estate’s historic and contemporary parks, gardens and flower beds are under constant development and metamorphosis. This exceptional site is also the setting for the International Garden Festival, an internationally renowned event that, since 1992, has been serving as both a laboratory and an observatory for garden creation across the globe. Over the past 25 seasons, over 700 gardens have been created – all prototypes of our gardens of the future. Both a mine of ideas and a breeding ground for new talent, the Festival offers a new lease of life to the art of gardening, constantly in quest of new plant species, new materials, original ideas and novel approaches. In 2016, for the Festival’s 25th anniversary, the organising teams have imagined thirty original gardens to celebrate “The Gardens of the Coming Century”: at the crossroads between a range of different disciplines, at the heart of major stakes for the future, the garden has become an extraordinary source of reflection, innovation and experimentation on the incredible adventure offered by the living environment.

Chantal Colleu-Dumond

© Geraldine Aresteanu

A qualified professor in literature, Chantal Colleu-Dumond has spent a vast share of her career abroad, in charge of cultural institutions. Designer and organiser of a number of cultural events across the globe, she served as Director of the French Institute in Essen (Federal Republic of Germany) from 1982 to 1984, Artistic Attaché for the French Embassy in Romania from 1988 to 1991, Head of the International and European Affairs department at the French Ministry for Culture from 1991 to 1995, Cultural adviser for the French Embassy in Italy from 1995 to 1999, Project Coordinator then Director of the Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud from 1999 to 2003, Cultural adviser for the French Embassy in Berlin and Director of the French Institute in Berlin (Germany) from 2003 to 2007. Since 2007, she has served as Director of the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, which reunites the International Garden Festival, the Château and the Centre for Art and Nature, where she is in charge of the artistic programme and exhibition commissionership. She is Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, Officer of the National Order of Merit and Officer of Arts and Letters. As a specialist in art and gardens, she is the author of a number of publications.

A lire :
Jardins pérennes et parcs du Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, Ulmer, 2014
Jardin contemporain mode d’emploi, Flammarion, 2012
Marc Riboud, Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2010
Chaumont au fil des saisons, Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2010
Nils Udo, Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2008