One of Toronto’s most iconic events is making its return for its 20th anniversary. Nuit Blanche, a free all-night celebration of contemporary art, is back to transform Toronto’s public spaces into pieces of art that are wild, fascinating, and alter the city’s landscape. From 7 p.m. on October 3 to 7 a.m. on October 4, these art exhibits, pop-ups and performances are spread out throughout the downtown area, North York, and Etobicoke for you to explore throughout the night and into the early morning.
In honour of Nuit Blanche’s 20th anniversary, the theme Tomorrow’s Memories invites you to look back on the artists, curators, communities, and places that have helped define the festival over the last 20 years. See the return of beloved Nuit Blanche legacy exhibits as well as exciting new commissions, the perfect way to take in the city’s vibrant history and future.
This year, Nuit Blanche features over 70 art projects by local, national and international artists with a wide range of art mediums for you to explore, including interactive art installations, live music, large-scale sculptures, and so much more.
With so many art projects to choose from for Nuit Blanche this Saturday, we’ve outlined 10 exhibits that have caught our eye.
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Band Band Clock
A marching band made entirely out of, well, marching bands! A band, a band, and a band come together to chime in the hours like a living cuckoo clock in a big, loud musical procession. Designed by Lisa Kiss especially for the 20th anniversary, marching band players of all ages, with a mix of professional musicians and talented enthusiasts from across Toronto, will appear every hour on the hour at City Hall in a grandiose musical celebration across Nathan Phillips Square. This will be a band, a band, and a band definitely worth seeing! More info.
Where: Nathan Phillips Square
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Everything I Wanted to Tell You
Originally featured at Nuit Blanche 2018, Everything I Wanted to Tell You is an open love letter, text-based art installation dedicated to the Scarborough community by Hiba Abdallah. Eight years later, Everything I Wanted to Tell You returns, reactivating the living archive of memory, confession and collective storytelling. It offers a reflection on Scarborough’s evolving story and a reminder that communities carry vast archives within them. More info.
Where: City Hall – East Tower
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Everything and Nothing
A restaging of the 2014 spoken-word performance Everything and Nothing returns to Nuit Blanche, created by the late Canadian artist Kelly Mark, often referred to as the Queen of Nuit Blanche. Presented as a back-and-forth conversation between a man and a woman, the performers read from scripts of 100 phrases beginning with “everything” and “nothing”, respectively. The performance will feature notable guests including Kelly Mark’s family, friends, peers, and fans. More info.
Where: Old City Hall – Courtroom
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Ever Sick
This interactive projection installation from artist SJ Okemow experiments with the jingle dress dance, also known as the healing dance, and extends this act of healing to the broader disabled community. A combination of digital and live art, this panoramic display creates a space welcoming to those with disabilities and chronic disease and showcases performances by live jingle dress dancers. Explore how this art project activates with your movement in whatever way your body allows. More info.
Where: Trinity Square Labyrinth
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I Miss You: T.Dot Memories
This glowing inflatable artwork reimagines Toronto’s lost landmarks in a dazzlingly bright memorial of the places that helped shape the city’s cultural landscape. This large-scale sculpture features different illustrated landmarks on each side, including Honest Ed’s, Ontario Place, Sam the Record Man, and MuchMusic. With illustrations made by Toronto-based visual artist SUN SUN, her digital illustrations of these landmarks that are tied to Toronto’s music, art, nightlife and community history are rooted in a desire to honour these places that have been redeveloped, reimagined or lost to time. More info.
Where: 100 Queen St W
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12 Hour Comics Night
In Theatre Passe Muraille, as part of the RUTAS International Festival of Performance, 12 Hour Comics Night is a fast, collective experiment in comic-making where Toronto cartoonists race against the clock to create 12 pages in 12 hours. The result is a living snapshot of Toronto’s comic arts scene, capturing current styles and themes. Hosted by cartoonist Lorena Torres Loaiza, other participating cartoonists include Vincy Lim, Jade Armstrong, Constant Yen, Jordan Aelick, and more. And while you’re in the theatre space, check out Theatre Passe Muraille’s Nuit Blanche Rest Stop, where you can take a break and recharge before continuing your artsy adventure! More info.
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille – Mainspace
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Remember | Imagine
Created by Hajar Moradi, a multidisciplinary artist and animation filmmaker, Remember | Imagine delves into the intricate tapestry of time, displacement, identity, memory and imagination. Using painting and stop-motion animation, witness Moradi’s personal exploration of how memory can shape identity, drawing on her experiences as an immigrant. The exhibition invites viewers to reflect on their own memories and their profound influence on identity and future aspirations. More info.
Where: STACKT Market
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Kamiphony
Kamiphony is a constellation of small paper machines, where small movements slowly assemble a mischievous world of rhythm, ritual, and sound. Artist Cybèle Young’s long collaboration with Japanese paper fills Koffler Gallery with these small kinetic paper machines and creates a living sonic landscape – part offering, part experiment, part mischievous orchestra. More info.
Where: Koffler Arts
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Keeper’s
Kendra Yee, the City of Toronto’s Artist in Residence, presents Keeper’s, a ceramic corner store that incorporates documents from the City of Toronto Archives. The project displays ceramic sculptures that interpret items commonly found in convenience stores integrated with personal narratives and archival materials to honour the family businesses that helped build Toronto. With embedded documents, maps, advertisements, and photographs, this journey of discovery invites visitors to speculate on the preservation of stories and the communities who shape them. More info.
Where: 1643 Dupont St.
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The Wishing Boat
In North York, prepare your eyes for a large origami boat that invites you to inscribe wishes and poems onto the vessel, transforming the sculpture into a multilingual ship of dreams, stories, and belonging. Throughout the 12 hours, the boat will transform as hundreds of people write in the language of their choice. The Wishing Boat is a symbol of journey, honouring the courageous immigrants who left behind what is familiar and hope for what comes next. Write as much or as little as you want, read what others have shared, or simply observe this boat and reflect on the diverse community that helped create it. More info.
Where: North York Centre (Atrium)
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