Nuit Blanche 2022

[kerouac2]

This year was the 20th anniversary of the Nuit Blanche event and also the very last one in October.  Next year, due to an internet vote by Parisians, the Nuit Blanche will take place in June.  I voted against the change, but I am nobody.

In any case, this year's event was a huge success, the most crowded that I have ever seen.  This is probably for the same reason as all of the other overcrowding of Paris all this year -- people are catching up after the covid crisis (even though we have started our 8th wave of infection).

However, the event was not a huge success for me this year.  I only did a few of the things that I had planned just because of the crowds.  Things looked fine at the beginning in front of the Hôtel de Ville, which is where I have usually started in the past.  It is also the easiest place to obtain the catalogue and the map, which are indispensable for those of us who are adverse to relying on a QR code.

In front of the Hôtel de Ville there was a light cube, definitely not recommended for epilectics.  (You'll see if you stay for the video later.)

This event brings out some people whom you do not normally see.

Next I tried to rush to the Théâtre du Châtelet for the biggest draw of the evening.

[kerouac2]

Austrian artist Kitty Hartl was the artistic director of the Nuit Blanche this year and one of her personal inventions was the star of this year's show. It was the New Burlesque Cabaret with its exuberant full fleshed mature (American) strippers. The shows were at the Théâtre du Châtelet every hour until 01:00 and lasted 25 minutes.

I went to join the queue which was endless. It went completely around the block (which I walked around, too) and back in front of the theatre and then stretched even farther. They were accepting 1000 spectators every hour. I figured I wouldn't make it for the next show but maybe the one after that. Unfortunately, when they finally opened the doors, the people in the second loop discovered that they could easily merge into the first loop and get in quickly. Frankly, I found this unacceptable, especially thinking about the people on the other side of the block who would not even see what was happening but only wonder why the queue never advanced.

So I went instead to the Canopée where various things were supposed to happen, it didn't really matter what at this point.



It turned out to be some sort of fashion show while I was there, even though various dance events and such were also scheduled.













Oh well, better than nothing.

[cheerypeabrain]

I like the light cube .

The older I get the more I like to people-watch...there's a lot going on in you photos Kerouac. I see the couple embracing in the background s the ladies in costume clump past.

The fashion show pics are full of movement..they could be in a glossy magazine!

[kerouac2]

Next to the Canopée in the Jardin Nelson Mandela was a Dutch installation called The Garden of Earthly Delights. The three panels were titled EDEN, PARADISE and HELL. The crowd was absolutely transfixed by everything that was happening in the images. Everybody was pointing out things to their friends "Did you see this? Did you see that? Look in the corner..."

Here is my video summary of these first three things.

[htmb]

Very interesting photos and video, Kerouac. I’m looking forward to seeing more. However, the crowds of people are absolutely cringe-worthy!

[kerouac2]

I had a number of other things on my list for the night. There was a spheroid sound sculpture in front of the Samaritaine made out of 850 metal pieces. Maybe. I was more attracted to the Place des Vosges, which claimed that Louis XIII would leave his horse to float around the trees in the square, surrounded by tinkling little sculptures straight out of Hieronymus Bosch. But I really wanted to go north and see the monumental installation at the intersection of the Canal de l'Ourcq and the Canal Saint Denis at la Villette. "A three dimensional fantastic and sensory voyage in a landscape of science fiction. Using screens of misting water, you are sent through planetary rings and a black hole..."

First though, I had to go to the Pompidou Centre to see the Island of Foam by German artist Stéphanie Lünning. Unfortunately, I arrived just as a foam event was ending, so it was necessary to wait for the next one. My catalogue told me that it would be at 22:00, in more than half an hour. But there was plenty of foam left from the previous "performance."

Young adults found that wait unbearable and would climb the barriers every now and then to run into the suds when the guards had their back turned and then escape before they could be captured (there was no capturing planned, just a little bit of scolding).

The artistic staff were mixing new potions from barrels and jerricans.

The crowd was becoming unbearable and then a man arrived to announce that the next flood wouldn't be until 22:45 for technical reasons. Some people left but many more kept arriving. I had an Antillean family next to be, group of six, but granny finally passed out and had to be carried away by the family, because there was no medical staff planned for this crowd. At least ten people replaced them.

What to do while waiting? Well, I watched the previous foam slowly die.

               

               

But finally at 22:45 the big vents began to puke out new colourful foam.





It would take a while to cover all of the old stuff.





So it was time for me to leave.



According to my programme, the exact same thing was happening at the Nuit Blanche in Le Havre.

I was exhausted so I went home, like I always do, missing 95% of the other events. Oh well.

[lugg]

Great report and photos thank you K2. White Night was certainly more colourful than the title suggests.

[bjd]

Lugg, a "nuit blanche" is one where you don't sleep.

[kerouac2]

Yes, the actual translation of "Nuit Blanche" is "sleepless night." These events continue until 5 a.m. but I have almost always been home by midnight (This time I was home at around 23:45.).

[fumobici]

Interesting, thanks.

[lugg]

Ah thank you Bjd and K2 . My French is, as ever, crap. I thought it translated to White Night .

[kerouac2]

Well, that is the literal translation vs the literary translation. Your French is fine.

[tod2]

Only had a very short look as I want to go back and enjoy it in length. It looks amazing.