Nuit Blanche and the future of art

On September 23, the City of Toronto will celebrate the seventeenth year of Nuit Blanche—a night that unites the community of Toronto and beyond to experience art installations throughout the city for free. Nuit Blanche is a celebrated tradition that garners community, recognition, and consideration of the art scene in Toronto, often provides a chance for young and emerging artists to showcase their work and speak up on topics and issues that the visual arts intersect with and advocate for. This year’s theme is entitled Breaking Ground, opening up conversations around climate, urban life, and responsibility. Although events like Nuit Blanche provides space for art to take up in the city, both literally and figuratively, the festival’s persistence has now become an act of resistance towards consistent and growing scepticism regarding the future of arts and culture in Toronto and beyond.

In 2019, Ontario’s arts and culture sector represented more than $28 billion or 3.5 percent of the province’s gross domestic product. Despite its popularity amongst tourists and locals—as well as its vitality in beginning conversations, addressing current issues, and building art spaces by and for communities—the visual arts sector in Ontario is experiencing threats that insinuate it is not an area of importance. The rise of artificial intelligence is leading to large corporations using robots instead of paying humans for art-related fields. The funding for the visual arts is dire and a#ordable studio spaces are being lost. With these issues looming in the background, for me, the experience of Nuit Blanche will be as bittersweet as it is awe-inspiring.

Nuit Blanche counters the bleakness surrounding the future of arts, gathering people together to celebrate artistic excellence within and beyond the city, and acting as a reminder of why Toronto needs art and artists to thrive. For the theme this year, artists will explore themes pertaining to climate change, nature, environment, and responsibility. Although Nuit Blanche celebrates well-known and celebrated artists, it provides a rare opportunity for emerging artists to showcase their work, and their thoughts, by transforming public spaces that are visited by the masses. What makes this event so impactful is its ability to bring so many people together to appreciate art, think critically about what art says and how it impacts them, and learn. Nuit Blanche shows the public that art expands so far beyond beauty into the realms of the radical, the political, and the academic. So why is it not seen this way by decision makers?

This year, I will be enjoying Nuit Blanche by visiting key Toronto sites that are participating, such as 401 Richmond and Stackt Market, but I will also be walking, and reflecting, across the city. I encourage everyone to visit Nuit Blanche, and to think about the impact that art has on our lives every day. Artistic acts remain acts of change, courage, and community. I believe that choosing to focus on the environment during a climate crisis reflects this. This year, Nuit Blanche needs supporters more than ever. While you walk, reflect on the deeper implications of each piece, each positioning, and each material. Think about what the art says to you, think about why we need Nuit Blanche, about why we need art.

For more information and a map that highlights all exhibitions, visit the City of Toronto website.