Scotiabank Nuit Blanche takes place on the Saturday night of the weekend before Canadian Thanksgiving. In 2012, the event falls on Saturday, September 29, 2012.

The dates for the following years are:
2013 - Saturday, October 5 (subject to change)
2014 – Saturday, October4 (subject to change)

Please note: Only Open Calls are dictated by the curatorial visions, while Independent Projects may create work in any direction or theme they desire.

There is one curatorial vision for the Open Calls applying to Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2012.

Theme:

"If it wasn't for the buildings in between"

The three exhibition curators have considered the artistic correspondences between their respective exhibitions and have collaborated to construct a theme for open call submissions. This theme will allow the selected proposals to be aligned with any of the three exhibitions. That alignment will be determined by the continuing collaboration of the curators.

If it wasn't for the buildings in between speaks about the ways that one moves about in the city, and how the urban fabric enables or disables both physical and social encounters. It opens the question of spatial (dis)continuities over different kinds of terrain and the psychic dissonance between the insides and outsides of buildings.

No, you do not need to have your venue confirmed, but you should have a short-list of venues/spaces that you have approached or researched already.

If your project is accepted, you must confirm your venue by April 2012 or you will not be able to participate in the event.

Toronto Special Events does not find venues for Independent Projects, however we may be able to suggest possible partnerships.

Projects using private venues will require a signed agreement from the owner to guarantee their commitment. Venues must be able to accommodate the project, the estimated audience and cannot exclude audience members. Venues NOT considered suitable include: venues that only grant access to people 19 years old +, and venues that cannot stay open all night.

Projects using public spaces are responsible for their own permits, security, electrical source, hydro and irrigation site surveys (where applicable).

If you would like to financially support an Artist’s Independent Project at your venue, we will try to assist you in finding a suitable Artist from the submissions we receive (from both Independent Projects and Open Call projects).

We cannot guarantee a match will present. In general, we encourage all venues to solicit Artists directly or commission a project suitable to the venue (and which meets all criteria) and apply as an Independent Project. If you wish to solicit Artists directly we suggest advertising on Akimbo, art blogs, local papers etc.

Nuit Blanche was originally conceived in Paris, France in 2002, in an attempt to bring contemporary art to the masses in public spaces. At its core, Nuit Blanche is a 12-hour event with a mandate to make contemporary art accessible to large audiences, while inspiring dialogue and engaging the public to examine its significance and impact on public space.

Nuit Blanche is both a “high art” event and a free populous event that encourages celebration and community engagement. From sunset to sunrise city spaces and neighbourhoods are transformed into temporary exhibitions. Unusual or forbidden spaces become sites of contemporary art open for all-night discovery and rediscovery. Cultural institutions, from museums to galleries to artist run centres, open their doors and offer free access to contemporary art. The everyday is suspended as the city’s landscape is changed to welcome a variety of artistic experiences.

In 2006, Paris organizers contacted the City of Toronto's Special Events office with an invitation to join the ranks of approximately six other European cities producing similar all-night events. The international success of Nuit Blanche continues to build each year as more cities across the globe offer their own version of this all-night art extravaganza.

Toronto was the first North American city to fully embrace the Paris model, and has inspired similar celebrations throughout North America, including San Francisco, New York, Miami, and Chicago.