All-night art festival is growing
Nuit Blanche may be less than two years old in Ottawa, but it’s growing up fast and commissioning art projects for the first time.
Megan Smith, creative director of Nuit Blanche Ottawa-Gatineau, says that it has commissioned several works that will be seen throughout the capital region during the one-night festival of art, to be held Sept. 21. The overnight blitz of performance and installation art, which is held in many cities around the world and debuted in Ottawa last year, will expand this year to include Gatineau.
Last year Nuit Blanche accepted dozens of proposals from more than 100 artists, who performed/ exhibited throughout the city core from dusk to dawn. The addition of commissioned works this year demonstrates that the festival is growing and maturing, and rising to the challenge of its own artistic theme — this year it’s “Supernova!” As a news release says, it will be “an explosion of creativity and innovation ... a massive urban playground, and a celebration of cultural and economic growth within the region.”
The commissioned works are funded by the Ontario Arts Council and will be staged in conjunction with Nuit Blanche partners. Ottawa Art Gallery curator Ola Wlusek is working on a project by artist Chris St. Amand, who will be “mysteriously perched” at Arts Court for the duration of the night.
Also at Arts Court, SAW Gallery curator Jason St-Laurent is working on “99 Red Beacons,” in which artist Britta Evans-Fenton will be inspired by military history and the 1980s’ super hit 99 Luft Balloons, by the German singer Nena. Throughout the city volunteers will carry the red balloons, which will blink out messages in Morse code written by Canadian Armed Forces personnel. The blinking balloons will represent the infinite number of digital messages that “float” in the air, “while the messages written by Canadian soldiers refer to the Internet’s origins as a military-funded form of communication,” says the Nuit Blanche web page.
Artist Andrew Morrow’s project, organized with Ottawa’s Artengine and Gatineau’s DAIMON, will include 12 artists at three sites on both sides of the river. The video work of six Toronto artists will be part of Hello Amiga, co-organized by the Ottawa International Animation Festival, and screened at the Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts.
Nuit Blanche says more details of the projects will be coming soon, and a corporate sponsor for the festival will be announced soon.