The city comes alive with colour and messages of resistance and hope
On Saturday, October 5, 2025, from sunset to sunrise, Nuit Blanche once again illuminated the streets of Toronto with works of public art. This year, artists from across Canada and the world exhibited works in downtown Toronto, Etobicoke, and York, answering the call to “translate the city.”
Downtown, artists responded to the theme through the eyes of their communities. Works of art evoking the diversity of the city—from Indigenous communities to residents of Chinatown and beyond—tell the story of Toronto through the perspective of those who have fought for their place in this city.
Among the most thought-provoking works were the Indigenous pieces flanking City Hall. Installations 18 and 16, PROTECT THE SACRED VOICE and FOR THE YOUTH, respectively, surrounded the base of institutional power within the city, clearly stating that the voices of Indigenous communities will not be erased.
PROTECT THE SACRED VOICE, a printmaking projection by Portland-based artist Demian Dine’Yazhi, projected the phrase “English is a foreign language! Maintaining beauty requires resistance! Love revolution!” across the doors of City Hall, prompting viewers to think about the language used to create the policies debated and codified within the building. The print’s bright orange colouring and 70s-style fonts drew the audience in, creating a dialogue between the people and their institutions.
South of City Hall, a pink pulsating light tempted the audience into the enclave housing FOR THE YOUTH, a rotating performance piece hosted by local Indigenous youths. FOR THE YOUTH rejected any stillness. Between the performances, viewers stood within a circle of pink, red, and orange rotating, patterned lights. Faded photos of Indigenous figures outlined the space. The spotty film photography invited questions about the erasure of Indigenous peoples in the history of Toronto.
These questions perfectly preluded the performances by Indigenous youth that took place throughout the night. Each performance featured a call-to-action drum circle, “calling on everyone to protect and uplift our Indigenous children,” according to the official description. Within the circle of photographs, a dancer performed the “round dance,” a ceremonial dance associated with healing and renewal. Every aspect of the performance was carefully planned, including the dress worn by the dancer: “It’s a healing dress, and there’s a really big story behind it. It’s about a girl who was really sick, and her grandma and her father made the dress and wanted her to dance…She made it fully around the circle and cheered for her. That’s why the dress is healing,” dancer Waubgenesse Butler explained.
The performance, dedicated to Indigenous youth, beautifully combined resistance, hope, and recognition to translate the city’s past into its future, perfectly answering the theme of this year’s Nuit Blanche.
Walking down Dundas, the scene came alive with food trucks, crowds, and music. At the corner of Dundas St. West and McCaul, The People’s Dancefloor brought together the themes of community present throughout every artwork in the downtown installations. The People’s Dancefloor, a mixtape created by various artists, projected music videos throughout the night, inviting people to dance, sing, and mingle.
Although few danced in the free and fearless way the installation demanded, The People’s Dancefloor was still able to achieve the sense of community it aimed for, and that defined the theme of Nuit Blanche 2025. Translating the City asked the artists to describe the role each person plays within the complexities of the city. Some artworks dealt with the past, others invited hope for the future. But The People’s Dancefloor focused on the present—who do we share this city with, and how can we, for one night, cross the divide together and dance?