Scarborough Residents Express Disappointment Over Nuit blanche Exclusion
Toronto‘s 19th annual Nuit Blanche, an all-night arts festival, returns this weekend, running from 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday.However, the event’s lack of a major exhibition zone in Scarborough has sparked disappointment among local arts advocates and residents.
This year’s festival theme, “translating the City,” focuses on Toronto’s multilingualism and the complexities of urban life, with major exhibition zones established in Etobicoke, North York, and downtown Toronto. While Scarborough hosted a zone within the festival until 2023, its absence this year is raising concerns.
Beth Helmers, Executive Director of Scarborough Arts, believes Scarborough deserves continued inclusion. “I would love to see it come back to Scarborough,” she said, praising the success and strong attendance of the 2023 exhibition.”There’s so many amazing artists that have come out of Scarborough. I think for young artists growing up in Scarborough to see it happen there and to see artists who reflect themselves featured on such a huge platform is really vital.”
The City of Toronto stated that nuit Blanche rotates locations annually, and artists from Scarborough are participating in exhibitions in Etobicoke and North York. City spokesperson Jeanne Holmes noted in an email, “We look forward to future collaborations in Scarborough and working with artists and curators to bring Nuit Blanche to their neighbourhoods.”
Though, some worry that excluding Scarborough as a host location reinforces negative perceptions of the borough. cam Greenidge-Douglin, a manager at Scarborough Spots, an online platform showcasing the area’s offerings, explained, “For a really long time, Scarborough just had a really negative connotation.” He added that hosting a large event like Nuit Blanche helps demonstrate the area’s vibrancy. ” [People] use that night to explore the city and see what it offers. But things like that, when it gets cancelled, they’re not going to want to come back. And they think, ‘Oh, Scarborough’s getting worse.'”
A 10-channel audio installation by Mitchell Akiyama, featured at Nuit Blanche 2023, explored how Scarborough residents perceive their community – as a suburb or a distinct “place” in its own right.
