What to see at Nuit Blanche Toronto 2024
10 official projects that are worth the trip to the waterfront
It's a Toronto-wide art party. A cultural marathon that begins as soon as the sun goes down. And if you're planning to do Nuit Blanche, now's the time to be plotting your epic all-night itinerary.
The event kicks off Saturday, Oct. 5. at 7 p.m., and there are more than 80 projects on this year's program. From the Humber College Lakeshore Campus in the west, to the Aga Khan Museum in the east, you'll discover contemporary art that's free to explore until sunrise.
"I experienced all the work last year," says Laura Nanni, an artist and curator who happens to have a professional interest in being a Nuit Blanche completist. Nanni is the artistic director at Nuit Blanche, and though her approach isn't for everyone, she invites folks to seek out as much as they possibly can. And looking at the event map, a FOMO-free evening is more feasible than you'd think.
The official Nuit Blanche exhibitions will be appearing along the waterfront, a territory that stretches from Sherbourne Common to Little Norway Park. "Our hope is that by situating the exhibitions closer together this year, along with clusters of activity in neighbourhoods outside of the downtown core, audiences can experience a more continuous journey, they can participate in more work over the course of the night, and even return to certain projects multiple times to witness how they have evolved," says Nanni.
The year's title is Bridging the Distance, a theme that lends itself to a wide swath of interpretations. Distance can be physical, for example: the space between two points. And distance can be an ideological concept — a divide created by politics and beliefs.
"I wanted to consider how in this moment — in this moment for the city, but also the world — how art can connect us, it can recalibrate us, it can bridge distance," says Nanni. And while the waterfront location was decided by the city, she says the landscape suits the theme beautifully, offering unique vantage points for viewing both the artwork and Toronto itself.
So where should you start your Nuit Blanche adventure? As you roam the waterfront exhibitions, look for these 10 projects — highlights selected by Nanni and the Nuit Blanche curators.
Where is it? Harbour Square Park (25 Queens Quay W.)
You could spend the whole night at the Nuit Blanche Event Hub and never get bored. That's the plan, anyway, because from 7:30 p.m. until sunrise, this open-air venue will be hopping. Half rest-stop, half party-central, the wheelchair-accessible festival hub will be hosting non-stop live performances, art installations and artist talks (ASL interpreted). Plus, there are a couple of CBC activations to watch for. CBC's Afterdark with Odario Williams will be doing two live recordings on site, and CBC Arts will be presenting a multimedia edition of Think Like An Artist, featuring creative advice by Nuit Blanche talent. (Get the schedule.)
Where is it? 125 Queens Quay East
Art has the power to change the world around us; that's the magic of Nuit Blanche. And sometimes, Nuit lets you play a role in that whimsical process. We're talking about works that encourage audience-participation — and a bunch of this year's projects encourage folks to be a part of the action, says Nanni. This installation by Shannon Garden-Smith is a beautiful example, she says, and to find it, head north of Sugar Beach. Inside a retail space on Queens Quay East, Garden-Smith will be covering the entire floor with colourful patterns made of sand. The local artist is often inspired by paper-marbling, and she makes swirls of colour on a giant scale. The designs are gorgeous on their own, but the art's not complete until visitors have had their way with it. All through the night, Nuit Blanchers will be invited to walk — stomp, skip, etc. — across the sand, leaving their mark on the piece. And if you can't make it out Saturday night, the project will be re-opened to the public as a Nuit Blanche extended project Oct. 7 to 13. (One more tip for you: Nanni will be leading a tour of the extended projects on Oct. 10.)
Fatherless Hymn, Motherless Cacophony, Figureless Cradle
Where is it? Sugar Beach (11 Dockside Drive)
Like Snail-work (For the Lake), this performance piece by Ivetta Sunyoung Kang is featured in the Waterfront East exhibition, Cat's Cradle. Yes, that's a reference to the classic schoolyard game — and this particular project features two teams of performers who will play a super sized version on the sand. Instead of using their hands, however, the artists will be looping string around the famous beach brollies of Sugar Beach. "It's not a dance performance, per se," says the Waterfront East curator, Danica Pinteric. "It's kind of like watching a live game." And according to Pinteric, cat's cradle can be a potent metaphor for "bridging the distance" between places, cultures — and generations too, for that matter. Says Pinteric's fellow Nuit Blanche curator, Syrus Marcus Ware: "it's a childhood game that probably a lot of us played. But to see it through adult eyes? I'm really interested in that."
Where is it? Sherbourne Common (61 Dockside Drive)
This sound-based installation by Toronto artist Anique Jordan is inspired by Caribbean folklore, and for the piece, Jordan's written her own surreal fairy tale — a modern legend that visitors will hear as they move between corrugated-metal sculptures. Physically exploring the landscape is a big part of the experience, Pinteric explains. The storytellers' voices will break in and out of unison as you wander around the site. "There's a really interesting play there where they're all speaking the same story, but it's falling in and out of rhythm," says Pinteric.
Where is it? George Brown College Waterfront Campus Loading Dock (51 Dockside Drive)
Italian choreographer Michele Rizzo is collaborating with the Toronto Dance Theatre on this 12-hour performance, but you don't need to be a contemporary-dance pro to understand their moves. According to Pinteric, the piece is inspired by "pedestrian movements" — the ordinary, hum-drum actions of everyday life. Think rushing to catch a bus or walking home from work.
Where is it? Spadina Wave Deck (415 Queens Quay)
For a very different sort of show, head east to the Spadina Wave Deck. There, as part of the Waterfront West Zone, artist Carolina Fusilier is presenting a multimedia installation that's described as a performance by singing sea creatures. The animals, however, are totally fictional. Fusilier calls them Amphipods, and per the project's lore, they're a breed of musical crustacean that once thrived in Lake Ontario — mythical shrimp as big as a sofa. At Nuit Blanche, you'll find a bunch of Fusilier's Amphipod sculptures floating near the shore to create a luminous tableau accompanied by melancholy music.
Where is it? Ireland Park (3 Eireann Quay)
The Waterfront West zone is curated by Su-Ying Lee, and her exhibition (The Weight of Levity) explores the connections between physical and emotional states. "In simplest terms, the ups and downs," says Lee — and in curating the section, Lee wanted to create a sense of balance. Nuit Blanche is as much about eye-popping spectacle as it is about quiet reflection, and according to Lee, Robert delivers on both fronts. The piece is a video installation based on the life of Major Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., the first African American astronaut. As viewers look over the water toward Billy Bishop Airport, they'll see a human figure floating in the night sky — his veins, bones and organs pulsing like neon in the darkness.
Where is it? 225 Queens Quay W
For another moment of reflection — one that packs a visual wallop — this multimedia installation by Kara Springer can be found in the Waterfront Central zone. The piece features an array of double-sided light boxes, screens that respond in real time when the artist takes a breath.
The work is featured in Syrus Marcus Ware's Nuit Blanche exhibition (And the Spaces Between Us Smiled), a show that's interested in "bridging the distance" between people. Finding common ground is one way to bring folks together, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more universal experience than respiration.
"What would it be like in our social world if we were so tapped in and connected with our other community members … so tapped in that we were even attuned to their breath?" asks Ware. "The works in this exhibition are really about creating the conditions where some magic can happen between us."
Where is it? WaterPark Place (10 Bay St.)
It's a cozy scene that plays out on any given night in Toronto, but during Nuit Blanche, you can find an example in the most unlikely place ever: the first floor of a downtown office tower. From the sidewalk below WaterPark Place, the sights and sounds of a family get-together will light up Bay Street. Peer inside, and you'll view an installation by local artists Elicser Elliott and Chason Yeboah. Using soft sculpture (by Yeboah) and aerosol paintings (by Elliott) — plus a soundtrack of old reggae and calypso tunes — the duo will depict a typical basement party, or bashment, a scenario described as a "glimpse through a window into Tkaronto's thriving Caribbean and Black diaspora home life."
"It's so exciting to see them come together and create this work," says Ware, who curated the piece for the Waterfront Central exhibition. "At a time when Black life isn't guaranteed and Black access to public space is questioned because of interactions with policing and targeted policing … what a time to turn and look at the beautiful magic of Black private space. Hanging out in the basement, cooking food together — the music, the celebration."
Where is it? Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery (231 Queens Quay W), HTO Park east-park boardwalk (339 Queens Quay W), Harbour Square Park lookout (25 Queens Quay W)
Art is rarely utilitarian, and yet, this project from Mishann Lau, Jim Ruxton and Lubo Brezina aims to solve the biggest challenge faced by the average Nuit Blancher — the agony of FOMO. At various locations throughout the Waterfront Central zone, the artists will install interactive video stations. Throughout the night, visitors can place a call to another (distant) spot on the festival map. "You could see micha cárdenas's sculpture or Kara Springer's light boxes and sort of interact with them — even if you're not close," says Ware. Just need to ask a virtual stranger for directions to the nearest public washroom? Feel free to do that too. "It literally helps people connect across the site of the festival," says Ware. "Not everyone is going to be able to move from the easternmost site to the westernmost site. The work allows you to experience a whole other world, even if you don't physically get over to the other side of the festival."
Nuit Blanche Toronto. Saturday, Oct. 5 from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. For more information visit www.toronto.ca/nuitblanche
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
