Toronto will once again transform into a large contemporary art exhibit this weekend with the return of the annual Nuit Blanche festival. From sunset to sunrise, starting at 7 p.m. on Sat. Oct. 5, and ending at 7 a.m. on Sun. Oct 6, this year’s theme “Bridging Distance” will explore the different ways humans experience distance and reimagine how we can bridge distance through art.
As always, “entry” to the festival is completely free as there won’t be one single entrance. Visitors can explore almost 100 art projects and performances from close to 150 artists, collectives, educational institutions, and neighbourhood groups at various art installations across the city, including parks, galleries, storefronts, office towers, streets, and even sidewalks!
These exhibits will evolve throughout the night through live interactions with audiences, artists, and performers.
This year, patrons can look out for the North American debut of Coalescing Towards by Milan-based artist and choreographer Michele Rizzo — this performance (a collaboration with the Toronto Dance Theatre) investigates concepts of repetition and unison. Argentinian artist and filmmaker Carolina Fusilier will present the World premiere of Amphipoda Songs, a water performance on Lake Ontario made with floating sculptures, lights, and soundscapes, commemorating species made extinct due to human exploitation of rivers. Check out the eye-opening effigy of the first African American astronaut, dubbed Robert, by Bahamian-born conceptual artist (and astronaut) Tavares Strachan — the illuminated anatomy, suspended in the air, will be viewable from across the lake. The World premiere of fraction of another sun, a performative multimedia installation by New York City-based Toronto artist Kara Springer. In this exhibit, a series of large double-sided light boxes will respond to the artist’s breath, brightening with each inhalation and dimming with each exhalation.
Other notable exhibits include The Weight of Levity, curated by Su-Ying Lee, which will explore the relationships between opposing physical and emotional positions (this exhibit will be nestled around the revitalized Canada Malting Company Silos, Billy Bishop Airport, Toronto Music Garden, and Lake Ontario).
The exhibit is part of a move by the festival to centre the waterfront as a new event hub. This space will host pop-up performances, interactive experiences, and exhibitions.
And the spaces between us smiled, curated by Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware, honours the land, water, and resistance movements in T’karonto (you can find this exhibit around HTO Park, Harbourfront Centre, and Harbour Square Park West). Cat’s Cradle, curated by Danica Pinteric, will emphasize themes of collectivity, flux, and interdependence as strategies for bridging distance. This exhibit, which will have projects evolve throughout the night, can be found from Sugar Beach to Sherbourne Common.
Click here for more information about the 18th annual Nuit Blanche festival!
