Dating S.O.S

Ladies and gentlemen, mark your calendars. On Saturday, September 29, from 7:03 p.m. to sunrise, Nuit Blanche will guarantee you one unforgettable night out!

Literally translated, it means “White Night,” which describes the natural phenomenon of dusk meeting dawn at high latitudes. So don’t arrive tired! You’ll want to be wide awake, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in order to experience all 195 art and performance pieces, to be showcased in three zones across the city.

Zone A: Bloor/Yorkville - between Davenport and College and between Yonge and Spadina.

Curator, Rhonda Corvese, writes this about Zone A: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

Those who venture into Zone A will encounter a world turned upside-down, where the only certainty is to expect the unexpected. Nothing is as it seems. The individual works examine an urban civilization of alienation, fear and potential danger, mass communication and (dis)orientation. This tension is balanced by the alien and the fantastic, where humour is staged in strange situations and suspensions. Zone A promises to transfix and unsettle the psyche of the individual and the masses. Enter at your own risk. Go on, I dare you.

Zone B: The Grange/Chinatown - between College and Queen West and between University and Spadina

Curator, Michelle Jacques, writes this about Zone B: At The Corner of Time And Place

Presently dominated by Chinatown and first settled by British gentry in the nineteenth century, the area surrounding Dundas and McCaul has developed, over the years, through the ongoing arrivals of diverse inhabitants from around the world. The varied cultures represented in the local citizenry – and the multiple histories and geographies that they embody – define the area’s true character. From day to day, how much attention do we pay to the value that this heterogeneity brings to this neighbourhood? For Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, its sites have been enlivened by ten artists whose work is built on some combination of invoking history, suspending time or traversing geographies. As such, we are invited to come together to share experiences, not only with the works of art, but also with our neighbours who inhabit our local, global, virtual and imagined spaces.

Zone C: West Queen West/Liberty Village - between Dundas West and The Gardiner Expressway and between Strachan and Cowen

Curator, Camilla Singh, writes this about Zone C: Supernatural City

Supernatural City enters into the time for sleep, the realm of dreams. It pushes past usual bedtimes, engaging imaginations, and exploring relationships with the city and fellow city dwellers during the course of one highly anticipated, insomniac night. I am drawn towards the idea of crossing a threshold, exploring the unseen, the unknown, that which comes to us in dreams, in altered states, and in the exceptional moments that constitute an ordinary day.

To make the most of your nocturnal wanders, be sure to check out the Nuit Blanche Survival Guide.