The annual all-night arts event Nuit Blanche Taipei would this year “power up” the city’s Nangang District (南港) with a series of performances and installations that facilitate “creations in solidarity,” the event organizers said.
At a news conference yesterday, the Nuit Blanche Taipei artistic director Lin Kun-ying (林昆穎) said that the main objective for the event, which is to take place from 6pm on Oct. 3 to 6pm on the following day, is to gather everyone in the same place and give them a platform to interact and create art.
“This year, the eastern stretch of Civic Boulevard will act as a large-scale arena to make new creations,” Lin said, adding that the event would aim to “power up” Nangang like electricity powers up a light bulb.
Twenty-one art installations would be on display and 50 performance groups are to participate, Lin said.
One of the highlights is the Inside Out Project — Nuit Blanche Taipei 2020 by French photographer and street artist JR, who turned portrait photographs of about 200 Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) maintenance workers into an art installation, Lin said.
“All those workers had their portraits taken, smiling, wearing a hard hat and holding up a light bulb. The portraits do not just represent what Taipower personnel do, it also shows what we as people are doing in our daily lives,” he said
There are also at least seven immersive works that include the audience into the performance through sound and interaction, Lin added.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said it is meaningful that the event is to take place in Nangang, as the district is transitioning from an industry-oriented area into a high-tech and music hub.
“The spirit of Nuit Blanche is city innovation, public space design, and the ability to showcase local characteristics and features. We can see all of this in Nangang,” Tsai said.
The Bureau Francais de Taipei has worked with the city government to organize the annual event since 2016, bureau Cultural Counsellor David Kibler said.
Even though the idea of a nighttime arts festival has spread around the world and events are held under the same banner in many cities in Asia, Nuit Blanche Taipei is very special to his office, Kibler said.
“This is because the most beautiful Nuit Blanche event in Asia is in Taipei,” he added.
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