As part of its extramural programming, Palais de Tokyo is responsible for the artistic direction of the 15^th edition of Nuit Blanche, on 1^st October 2016.

For the first time, this Nuit Blanche will trace out an unbroken journey across the city, along the Seine, from medieval Paris on the banks of the Île de la Cité to the modern Paris of the Front de Seine, up to the Paris of tomorrow with the Société du Grand Paris. This Nuit Blanche will invite each visitor to live out a romantic quest in the heart of the City of Lights, alluding to the Dream of Poliphilus, a fictional fifteenth-century Italian character.

A few days prior to the event, the French artist Abraham Poincheval will be on the lookout for the Nuit Blanche’s arrival from the top of his fifteen-metre high perch. As for Alain Séchas’s emblematic cats, they will take up position at the Gare de Lyon, like a family gathered on the platform, waiting for the return of a loved one.

Conceived in 12 chapters, Nuit Blanche will give its visitors the possibility to discover the work of the British artist Oliver Beer, beneath the Pont des Arts, in a live mixing of the sonic ecosystem of the Seine. The visitors will start out their journey by crossing a mysterious forest created by Stéphane Thidet on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville. Huge pieces of wood floating on a frozen lake will compose a living sculpture in perpetual motion.

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The theme of love will be central to this edition, as can be seen in the heart produced by Fabrice Hyber for the Nuit Blanche’s poster. A “workshop of broken hearts” will hand out fragmented hearts to the visitors, who will be able to go and get them mended at the end of their journey in a large-scale “heart repairs workshop”.

The visitors will also encounter Bridget Polk’s precariously balanced sculptures. During the night, along the banks of the Seine, and accompanied by performers, this American artist will constantly construct and reconstruct fragile totems, resulting from uncertain stacks of stones defying the laws of gravity. Towards the end of the journey, Alain Fleischer will revive a 1979 project, entitled Gone with the Wind, by projecting onto an immense fan beside the Pont Bir-Hakeim the image of a woman, imperturbably staring at whoever looks at her.

Free and open to the general public, Nuit Blanche 2016 will once again mix together all the ingredients which have made for the public and artistic success of this major Parisian event: a concentration of open-air artworks in public spaces, the presence of emerging or confirmed international artists, and a cooperative approach with other structures or cultural events. The institutions actively participating in this journey include the Musée du Quai Branly, the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, and Le Petit Palais. 

List of the artists

Abraham Poincheval, Alain Fleischer, Alain Séchas, Alicja Kwade, Anish Kapoor, Bridget Polk, Bruno Perramant, Christian Rizzo, Cleon Peterson, Crazy Horse Paris, David Douard, Davide Balula, Emmanuel Trousse, Erwin Olaf, Estelle Delesalle & Jean-Marc Ferrari, Fabrice Hyber, Géraldine Py & Roberto Verde, Gwenaël Morin, Karim Zeriahen, L’Opéra de Paris / 3e scène (with Xavier Veilhan, David Luraschi, III-Studio, Bret Easton Ellis, Wendy Morgan), Laurent Derobert, Marie-Agnès Gillot & Pascal Quignard, Laurent Tixador, Loïc Constantin, Gildas Flahault, Benjamin Flao avec les Ateliers du Bout de la Cale, Marie-Agnès Gillot & Julie Guibert, Matthew Barney, Mel O’Callaghan, Nicolas Buffe, Ola Maciejewska, Oliver Beer, Philippe Quesne (with Dorit Chrysler, Laurent Le Deunff, Virginie Yassef), Pierre Delavie, Rodrigo Braga, Ryan Gander, Sâadane Afif, Stéphane Thidet, Thomas Teurlai, Thylacine, Tobias Rehberger, TRAM / d.c.a, We Love Art (with an installation of Romain Tardy), Yoann Bourgeois, Zad Moultaka

Curators: Jean de Loisy, President of Palais de Tokyo, Sandra Adam-Couralet, associated independent curator, and the exhibition curators of Palais de Tokyo: Daria de Beauvais, Julien Fronsacq, Katell Jaffrès, Vittoria Matarrese, Claire Moulène and Hugo Vitrani.

Admission free