Nuit Blanche returns to Toronto October 1 and will branch out to many other areas of the city

Nuit Blanche, Toronto’s free all-night celebration of contemporary art, returns this fall for its 16th edition from sunset on October 1 to sunrise on October 2. Toronto’s biggest celebration of contemporary art will include works by more than 150 local, national and international artists and, for the first time, present exhibition areas across Toronto. This year’s Nuit Blanche will mark the finale of ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art.

“We are ecstatic to bring to life the first-ever city-wide Nuit Blanche this fall which will be an epic return to a full public art takeover of Toronto. We will be showcasing a record number of artists who will be rupturing our city with incredible installations that are thought provoking, specular and filled with wonder. This 12-hour magical transformation includes massive light installations, sculptural interventions, inflatables, AR projects, performances, skateboarding, fashion and so much more. Nuit Blanche will light up the city with the creative energy that we all have been longing for.”Dr. Julie Nagam, Nuit Blanche Artistic Director

Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee, was joined by Nuit Blanche Artistic Director Dr. Julie Nagam, Afrofuturist artist Adeyemi Adegbesan, multidisciplinary artist Meera Sethi and Vice-President of External Affairs and Professional Learning at Humber College Kelly Jackson to announce Nuit Blanche 2022 at Assembly Hall.

“Since 2006, this award-winning event has generated more than $443 million in economic impact for Toronto. Nuit Blanche provides an opportunity to engage with the remarkable creative talent that has both captivated Toronto in the past and will inspire us in the future,” said Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee. “The night economy is one of Toronto’s defining characteristics as a vast and growing city with continued investments in many large-scale nighttime cultural programs such as Nuit Blanche,” added Thompson.

“It’s very exciting to entertain the prospect of celebrating public art in person again. The past two years have presented a number of obstacles for artists in connecting their work to the larger community. The prospect of being able to share work in various neighborhoods across the city and engage in public dialogue again is something I’ve been looking forward to.”– Afrofuturist artist Adeyemi Adegbesan

Curatorial theme

Led by Dr. Julie Nagam, Nuit Blanche’s curatorial theme from 2020 to 2022, The Space between Us, invites artists to build bridges between cultures, communities and the environment, transforming Toronto with stories about their connection to place.

Art work presented as part of this year’s Nuit Blanche will bridge the international, national and local, exploring shared experiences through the lens of Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities globally while amplifying Toronto’s local voices internationally.

City-wide expansion – new exhibition areas include Etobicoke, North York, Yorkville and more!

This year will be the most expansive Nuit Blanche to date, with exhibition areas city-wide. Nuit Blanche will return to the downtown core and Scarborough with support from Exhibition Sponsor Scarborough Town Centre. New exhibition areas in North York and Etobicoke, supported by Exhibition Sponsor Humber College, will extend the event’s footprint city-wide for the first time.

Art projects will be clustered in easy-to-navigate exhibition areas making exploring the event more convenient for audiences. Additionally, art projects will be presented in various neighbourhoods, including Don Mills, East Danforth, Bloor-Yorkville, Sterling Road and Fort York.

Augmented Reality (AR) Artworks

Continued for 2022, AR Artworks will feature 10 new commissions alongside remounts of the inaugural 2020 works. Created by more than 30 artists, these projects weave a playful exchange between public art and discovery through unique AR experiences.

Artists

Nuit Blanche 2022 will feature more Indigenous, Black and artists of colour than ever with local, national and international representation. Select artists announced for Nuit Blanche 2022 include Yung Yemi (www.yungyemi.com), Meera Sethi (www.meerasethi.com), Shelley Niro (www.shelleyniro.ca/), Rah Eleh (www.rah-eleh.com) and Cheryl L’Hirondelle (www.cheryllhirondelle.com) and many more. A complete list of artists and projects is available at www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/nuitblanche/all-art-projects.

City-produced exhibitions

More than 50 commissioned art projects will be presented as part of City-produced exhibitions in Etobicoke, downtown, North York and Scarborough.

Partner-produced and special projects

Created by individual artists, producers and organizations, and cultural and educational institutions, the partner-produced Independent Projects portion of Nuit Blanche features 50 projects celebrating the diversity of Toronto’s art communities.

Twenty major institutions across Toronto will feature art projects and exhibitions free to the public throughout Nuit Blanche. Participating institutions include:401 Richmond, Aga Khan Museum, Art Gallery of York University, Artscape Launchpad, Artscape Weston Common in partnership with Urban Arts, Artscape Wychwood Barns, ArtworxTO, Toronto History Museums, Bata Shoe Museum, Centennial College School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design Story Arts Centre, East End Arts, Harbourfront Centre, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Museum Of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Toronto, Onsite Gallery at OCAD University, Pride Toronto, The Bentway, The Drake Hotel, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery and TO Live.

“As a Toronto-based artist, I am thrilled to invite people to experience a new participatory installation for this year’s long-awaited Nuit Blanche Toronto alongside many remarkable Indigenous and racialized artists creating works with themes of the environment, sustainability, community, and cloth.”– Multidisciplinary artist, Meera Sethi

Nuit Podcasts

The Nuit Podcast series Belonging to Place returns for its second season. Conversations with artists, elders, arts leaders and scholars from around the globe uncover the stories and connections between cultures, communities and the environment to transform the future of public art in this 10-part podcast series.

Episode one is out now, and episodes two to 10 will be released every Thursday until Nuit Blanche. Nuit Podcasts are available here.

Nuit History

Online access to images, videos and artist information from the inaugural 2006 event through to the virtual Nuit Blanche of 2020 (the event was cancelled in 2021 due to the pandemic) is now available. More than 1,600 art projects are now represented in the archive available on the City’s website: www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/nuitblanche/nuit-history.

More information about participating artists, Nuit Podcasts and the complete event programming is available on the City’s Nuit Blanche website: www.toronto.ca/nuitblanche. The full event map will be available online on September 26.

Nuit Blanche Toronto 2022 marks the culmination of ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021-22. ArtworxTO has been an incredible success, supporting 1,500 artists to deliver 350 art works to every corner of the city. ArtworxTO will leave important legacies in new works across the city. ArtworxTO information is available at www.artworxto.ca.

Lead photo Nuit Blanche Media Launch Samuel Smith Park 07-28-22: L-R Adeyemi Adegbesan, artist, Meera Sethi, artist, Deptuty Mayor Michael Thompson, Dr. Julie Nagam, artistic director, Kelly Jackson, VP External Affairs and professional learning -Humber College. photo by Stephen Uhraney

SOURCE City of Toronto

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