The city’s popular all-night art event has swapped a marquee corporate sponsor for curatorial focus in the past two years. But the big difference in the 13th edition of Nuit Blanche was an expansion to Scarborough, with exhibitions taking place in the Scarborough Civic Centre, public library, the Scarborough Town Centre mall and in the Scarborough RT stations. Participating artists included big international names like eL Seed, who erected a monolith in Yonge-Dundas Square, and Ibrahim Mahama, who draped the entrance to city hall in jute sacks. Curatorial themes over three main exhibition zones included amalgamation, immigration, queer history, and tensions between downtown and the suburbs.
Below are photos from the Scarborough exhibitions as well as the downtown exhibitions between Yonge-Dundas Square and City Hall.
Scarborough
Cheol Joon Baek
Cavalier Noir, Toronto artist Ekow Nimako’s Lego sculpture of a Black boy riding a unicorn, was a focal point at the Scarborough Civic Centre. The project was a collaboration with Director X.
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
In the Scarborough Civic Centre, Indigenous drummers, spoken word artists and dancers participated in politically inspired two-hour event called The Filibuster.
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Hiba Abdallah’s installation Everything I Wanted to Tell You projected text directly onto the 90-foot facade of Scarborough Civic Centre.
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Downtown
Cheol Joon Baek
French-Tunisian artist eL Seed’s Mirrors Of Babel at Yonge-Dundas Square was a calligraphic monument representing a dialogue between Indigenous people and immigrant communities.
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Ken Lum’s International Dumpling Festival was a big draw during Nuit Blanche.
Cheol Joon Baek
Brendan Fernandes’s On Flashing Lights featured a barricade of cop cars flanking a central stage where DJs from queer, immigrant and racialized communities performed.
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Ibrahim Mahama’s Radical Histories, a massive patchwork of jute fabric, spanned the front of Toronto City Hall.
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
Cheol Joon Baek
St. Joseph’s College School’s history was projected onto the facade of its former site at Bay and Wellesley as part of the installation Ghost School.
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