The idea sounds like Halloween for hipsters: hold an all-free, all-night, city-wide art show in as many venues as possible-the weirder and more unlikely the blend, the better. Thanks in part to the city’s Live With Culture campaign, Nuit Blanche, which has been a hit in Montreal and in Europe for years, is coming to Toronto this weekend.
From sunset on Saturday September 30, until sunrise on Sunday morning, Toronto will be teeming with art installations, exhibits and performances of all shapes and sizes. There are literally hundreds of events planned in every kind of space you can imagine: your typical museums and galleries will be open overnight, but you’ll also find parties at swimming pools, sound installations in parks, even a film screening in a carwash. It’s events like these that make living in a huge and often alienating metropolis fun again.
You might start the night by taking in a projection by world-renowned artist and Torontonian Michael Snow. His 2006 piece Counting Sheep will be cast onto the dome of the McLaughlin Planetarium at the ROM. From there it’s only a short walk to Yorkville, where you’ll find a screening entitled I am Curious, which includes a live feed element and is a collaboration between Toronto artist Annette Mangaard and cultural historian Ihor Holubizky from Brisbane. Just north of there, at Villiage of Yorkville Park off is where to head if you’re feeling a little famished. That’s where Rob Benner will be holding his Maize Barbacoa, a corn-roast installation complete with hot food and a performance.
For action on campus, be sure to check out the trippy Fog in Toronto #71624 by Japan’s Fujiko Nakaya, which will slowly drift across the Philosopher’s Walk all night long. Those geared more toward avant-piety can make their way to Hold That Thought Kelly Mark’s neon exhibit taking place at the Church of the Redeemer on Bloor West.
If you’re looking for an interesting way to commute through all the different sights and sounds, consider hitching a ride on the Toronto Performance Transit System. In no way related to the TTC, the TPTS is essentially a vehicle that will whisk you from their central station at Stephanie and John St. to events located all over the area. Stops on the route include Trinity-Bellwoods Park, Lisgar and Queen, St. Patrick and Queen, College and University, and Yorkville and Avenue Road. Make your way to Queen West’s Theatre Centre for the inside scoop on Toronto’s condo explosion. Part art exhibit, part social science class, Condo Boom promises to get to the bottom of these skyscrapers’ impact on our homes and neighbourhoods.
If all the action gets you hot and sweaty, better head to Night Swim, an all-night swimming party modeled after ancient Roman baths, which (in their day) were both a medium for fierce social debate and a destination for opulent pleasure and relaxation. The swim social will be held at Trinity Community Recreation Centre and will feature hourly sets by DJs and other sound artists. The stellar lineup includes Sickness DJs, Polmo Polpo, Ghislain Poirier and Tim Hecker, to name but a few. Towels are being provided, but please, bring your own bathing suit!
So drink that caffeine-loaded “energy” drink, take those truck-driver wake-up pills, or maybe even get a good night’s sleep beforehand. Just do whatever it takes to stay awake to explore this unique and enlightening night-time event.
