The streets of Winnipeg were once again filled with excitement Sept. 30 as locals came out to support the seventh annual Nuit Blanche, with art installations in The Exchange, St. Boniface, Downtown, and The Forks.
Streets packed with bicycles, pedestrians, and slowly creeping cars navigating around pop-up performances and art pieces brought out the lively energy that literally lit up the streets with interactive art and performance.
The all-night festival was produced by the Winnipeg Arts Council and Culture Days Manitoba as part of Culture Days, a national three-day event that gives millions of Canadians the opportunity to engage in free activities and performances.
Artists specializing in all sorts of mediums turned familiar streets and buildings into canvases for creativity. Venues consisted of everything from coffee shops to warehouses, and galleries to back lanes.
The ability to walk in a straight line was solely based on determination and self-restraint, as sights and sounds beckoned from every direction. The best plan for approaching Nuit Blanche is no plan at all, giving in to the waves of people and going with the flow of the crowd.
Francophone rapper Alpha Toshineza performs at Nuit Noire, an event curated by Blackspace Winnipeg at aceartinc. for Nuit Blanche Winnipeg on September 30, 2017.
The crowd at Nelson Tagoona’s performance outside of Urban Shaman grew to overcome McDermot Avenue on Saturday, September 30 during Nuit Blanche Winnipeg.
Outdoor art installations included many light and projection projects throughout Winnipeg’s Exchange District on Saturday night for Nuit Blanche Winnipeg.
Francophone rapper Alpha Toshineza performs at Nuit Noire, an event curated by Blackspace Winnipeg at aceartinc. for Nuit Blanche Winnipeg on September 30, 2017.
“The energy here is always amazing. Black Space does incredible events by the community, for the community,” Eugenie Baffoe, or Genie, said. Baffoe performs hip hop dance at the Nuit Noire event, curated by Black Space Winnipeg for Nuit Blanche Winnipeg on September 30, 2017.
Nelson Tagoona of Baker Lake, Nunavut perfroms his blend of throat singing and beat boxing outside Urban Shaman on Saturday night for Nuit Blanche Winnipeg. He said that traditionally, the women in his community throat sing, so his fusion of traditional song with modern beats is currently driving his success.
Outdoor art installations covered Winnipeg’s downtown, Exchange District, St. Boniface and West Broadway areas on Saturday night for Nuit Blanche Winnipeg.
Fances Koncan’s “Riot Resist Revolt Redux” was a dance performance created in response to a Fringe play she premiered in this year’s Winnipeg Fringe Festival. “The play was about the relationship between environment and mental illness, and the idea that there is a connection between the health of our land and the health of our bodies and minds and souls,” Koncan said. These themes came thorugh in Saturday’s dance performance outside of Forth.
Local hoop dancer Shanley Spence performs with DJ Shub at the Wall to Wall and RTMF Bike Jam kickoff at 782 Main Street for Nuit Blanche on Saturday, September 30.
