Chic Destinations

Nuit Blanche

Cities are defined by the people who live within them. The height of the tallest towers, the width of the grandest building, the complexity of the oldest palace, all these details are decided by the people. During the day, people own the city but at night shapes and forms are obscured by the dark. Bright street lamps attempt to shine a light on the bumps and steps, try to replicate the daylight, but all cities look and, more importantly, feel different after the sun has gone down.

It’s a time when offices are closed and buildings are shut down. Silent streets and shuttered buildings encourage the majority of city dwellers home, earlier during darkening autumn, when the nights grow longer and the days shorter. However, for one night across many European cities roles are reversed and museums, galleries, swimming pools and other public spaces, usually frequented in the day, stay open throughout the night.

In cities all across Europe these autumnal open-nights – White Nights or Nuit Blanche – are observed annually. They create a wonderful chance to observe a different side of these cities, and so anyone visiting Maasmechelen Village would be rewarded for making the short trip from there to Brussels or Cologne by being able to share a rare nocturnal side to these cities, and likewise, anyone visiting La Vallée Village is just a moment away from enjoying Paris in an entirely new way. All these cities will be taken over overnight by the arts from home and abroad.

In Paris Nuit Blanche is a celebration of the contemporary, held this year for the tenth time. Across this great art city on the 1st October artists will display installations along a pre-prescribed trail – using a trail was a theme introduced in 2009 – through galleries, museums and other public spaces, both indoor and out. All varieties of media from paint, pastel, artificial light, video, performance art and sculpture will move into the city’s darkened spaces. In previous years the event has hosted some of the most influential international artists of the contemporary art world including Mark Wallinger, Kimsooja and Doug Aitken. They are followed this year by the most talented upcoming French and specifically Parisian artists who decorate their city’s most prominent sites with intriguing flair and memorable style. 

Also taking place on the 1st October is Brussels’ own take on Nuit Blanche, a contemporary look at the Belgian capital’s art scene after dark, similar to the celebrations being held in the French capital. Visitors can explore a city of installations, displayed in spaces normally closed to the public after hours, including galleries and museums. Where these events differ from those in Paris, however, is in the emphasis on performance rather than static art. There will be dance performances, visual installations, fashion shows, readings and electronica concerts, again from a crop of international and home-grown talent, which go on late into the night. 

The Long Night of Museums in Cologne really does exactly what it says on the tin, with 40 venues indulging in lengthy evening openings, all the way through to three o’clock in the morning. Cologne is an important player in the German art scene, and the exhibitions here are centred around the city’s museums and over one hundred gallery spaces, in an appreciation for both classic and contemporary eras.

The Mayor of Paris, Bertland Delanoë, said of Nuit Blanche that it is “not just simply good for the soul, it essentially anchors and guides our modern societies.” It certainly is an interesting way of viewing a city and its art, and an important one at that.


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