A Nuit on the town

Posted on Sep 24, 2019 by The Forks Market

Photo courtesy of Culture Days

Nuit Blanche is definitely one of our favourite nights of the year — thousands of Winnipeggers roam the streets in search of, an interacting with, all types of contemporary art and artists.

Most of the events, which take place on Saturday night from 6 p.m until 12 a.m. (though some run a bit later or even a few days longer), are happening in and around the downtown area — in the Exchange District, the North End St. Boniface, the West End, and, of course, at The Forks as well!

We have so many cool, thought-provoking, emotive and fun pieces to see and events to participate in; take a peek below for a Cole’s Notes breakdown of what we’ve got goin’ on Saturday night.

Passage

Passage is one of Nuit Blanche’s feature pieces, produced in partnership with the Winnipeg Arts Council. The installation will be near the Historic Rail Bridge and is made up of 20 illuminated circles that form a tunnel you can walk through, triggering light animations and sounds. Passage, created by Montreal-based artist Serge Maheu, is described as an “immersive, minimalist, contemplative and interactive artwork,” which explores the emotional connections we develop with light and sound and explores the idea of passage in both a context of physical movement and the transition of “one state to another in temporal dimension.” It’s a lot to digest, but the experience is also supposed to be playful and fun! This specific piece will be up until Oct. 6, so there’s a bit of extra time to check it out.

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Photo courtesy of Cool Gardens

Beachscape

We know summer is officially over, but how about one last trip to the beach? Beachscape, designed by spmb (São Paulo-Manitoba) transforms The Forks Port into a “pop-up urban beach,” complete with sand, “beach towels” (they’re actually wooden decks) and umbrellas. Beachscape is part of Cool Gardens, a public exhibition of contemporary garden art and installations presented by Storefront MB and The Forks which celebrate the intersection of nature, art, architecture, urbanism and design. There are several other Cool Gardens installations on-site, including the Cool Dot near Inn at The Forks and Floating Flowers and Keep Your Cool near the Esplanade Riel.

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The Meeting Place

Head over to the Orientation Circle between 7-10 p.m. to make your own work of art that can attach to your bike (or just put it up on your fridge at home!) that traces the path of time. You can also snap a selfie under the Northern Lights in a green-screen photo booth. The best part? All the materials are provided by Parks Canada!

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Photo courtesy of Culture Days

Run For Your Lite

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hop into a human-sized hamster wheel? Well now’s your chance to find out. Run For Your Lite is a collaboration between two local, custom design-build shops: Cloverdale Forge and Wood Anchor. They came together to design the massive wheel which you can find on the Riel Esplanade Bridge Landing; as you run on the wheel, the power generated will be “pumping of the bellows of the blacksmith forges.” We hope you eat your Wheaties that morning!

Light the Night Winnipeg

For a more emotionally intense activity, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada is putting on an event to remember those who have been effected, either directly or indirectly, by blood cancer. Participants will meet at the CN Stage and Field and are able to choose one of three coloured lanterns (white for patients and survivors; red for supporters; gold for those walking in memory of a loved one) and do a short walk around the grounds. This event runs from 5-9 p.m.; the walk is less than 5 kilometres and is fully accessible

One Mural for Diversity

Inside the market, on the second floor in space 201 to be exact, we have invited 16 individuals or couples from our local community to help us create a new mural under the guidance of artist Michel Saint Helaire, who originally designed the piece. All 16 slots are already full, but you can pop by between 6-8 p.m. to take a peek at the progress!

And remember: It's going to be a busy night and a lot of people will be on site, so we encourage you ride your bike over, carpool or make use of public transportation, including the Winnipeg Trolley Company’s free trolley shuttles, which run about every 20 minutes from 6 p.m. until 12 a.m. and make six stops, including one at The Forks.

For more info about everything happening on Saturday night and to get a list of all the trolley stops, visit the Nuit Blanche website.

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