17th Annual Nuit Blanche Toronto returns September 23 with ground-breaking installations

All-night celebration of contemporary art will feature exhibitions in Etobicoke, downtown Toronto and Scarborough

TORONTO, August 25, 2023 – The 17th annual Nuit Blanche Toronto will transform the city’s neighbourhoods and streets on the first day of fall with dazzling art installations, from 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 23 to 7 a.m. on Sunday, September 24. The all-night celebration of contemporary art will feature exhibitions in Etobicoke, downtown Toronto and Scarborough, with more than 80 art projects from close to 250 artists from a variety of disciplines. Entry will be free for the public to engage with the art projects.

Theme and exhibition areas

This year’s Nuit Blanche theme, Breaking Ground, encourages exploration within the arts community to focus on issues related to nature and pioneering change. Specifically, Breaking Ground invites artists to explore themes of climate change, the impact of urban development on communities and collective responsibilities around land and stewardship.

“I look forward to Nuit Blanche Toronto every year and the creative energy it brings to our streets. It’s a celebration of contemporary art that is accessible and enjoyable for all, while showcasing the remarkable talent we have in our city. I invite everyone across Toronto to participate in the Nuit Blanche festivities,” said Mayor Olivia Chow.

Three Toronto-based curators will present unique exhibition areas with their distinct perspectives:

• Shoaling, curated by Lillian O’Brien Davis: The Etobicoke exhibition (sponsored by Humber College) is a multivocal exhibition focusing on connections between land and water that link threads of memory, climate, race and labour through performance, video, sculpture and technologies.
• Disturbed Landscape, curated by Kari Cwynar: The downtown exhibition unearths centuries of development within Toronto’s financial district, as artists enact a series of creative reversals and disruptions to our built environments.
• In the Aggregate, curated by Noa Bronstein: The Scarborough exhibition (sponsored by Scarborough Town Centre) explores ideas of togetherness, friendship and collectivity that point to Toronto’s unique urban topography and public spaces transformed through the assembly of shared experiences.

Artists to watch for at Nuit Blanche 2023

Nuit Blanche aims to uncover and highlight artists who challenge the status quo through media, form or content, to transform public spaces and inspire audiences to experience Toronto in new and meaningful ways, featuring works from award-winning artists, Divya Mehra, Bonnie Devine and Alvin Luong, along with emerging talent including Joy, Par Nair and Tristan Sauer.

Notable artworks

• Leeroy New’s Balangay Starfleet reimagines ancient Philippine boats into futuristic bamboo and plastic vessels suspended mid-aerial encounter.
• Caementarium, a multimedia installation by Dana Prieto and Reza Nik, engages with the former site of the Mimico Asylum, now Humber College’s Lakeshore Campus.
• Wellspring, by Jenine Marsh, upends Nathan Phillips Square, revealing the forgotten space beneath. (Funded by the Government of Ontario).
• Your Wish is Your Command, by Divya Mehra, pokes at colonial underpinnings in the Financial District with a magic lamp.
• Suzanne Morrissette’s light and screen installation to notice urges visitors to pause and observe the shapes of leaves and movement of trees as they trace the movement of wind.
• Lifelines showcases work by the Black Arts Fellowship’s inaugural cohort at the Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism.

More information about Nuit Blanche and a complete list of art projects can be found on the Nuit Blanche website.

“This year’s theme, Breaking Ground, has profound meaning for a city that is constantly evolving, allowing artists to interpret and call attention to our relationship with the natural environment and urban issues. Nuit Blanche art and installations will take place in neighbourhoods in Etobicoke and Scarborough, as well as downtown, giving Torontonians a chance to engage with art and see our city in new and important ways.” – Councillor Alejandra Bravo (Davenport), Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee

Partners, funders and sponsors

Cultural institutions partnering with the City of Toronto for this year’s Nuit Blanche Toronto include 401 Richmond, Aga Khan Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Artscape Daniels Launchpad, Artscape Weston Common, Artscape Wychwood Barns, Artscape Youngplace, The Bentway, East End Arts, Gladstone House, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC), Koffler Centre of the Arts, Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA), Myseum of Toronto, Onsite Gallery, Story Arts Centre Campus at Centennial College, UrbanArts and Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism.

The City of Toronto thanks the Government of Ontario for providing funding; exhibition sponsors Humber College and Scarborough Town Centre; sponsors Cadillac Fairview, Concord Adex, Johnnie Walker, QuadReal, Shine Foundation and Waterfront Toronto, as well as media partners Boom 97.3, CBC Toronto and the Toronto Star for supporting Nuit Blanche.

SOURCE City of Toronto

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