Nuit Blanche 2010 — Event — Slash Paris

Past: Saturday, October 2, 2010

Under the artistic directorship of Martin Bethenod, the 9th Nuit Blanche focuses on the contemporary plastic arts in all their diverse forms (sculpture, video, installation, performance, etc.). Emphasising the synergy between a work, a venue and the audience, the event has attracted works from international artists across a variety of genres.

So-called “historic” figures such as Michelangelo Pistoletto rub shoulders with established artists (Chen Zhen, Claude Lévêque, Erik Samakh, Rirkrit Tiravanija, etc.), as well as emerging artists (Keren Cytter, Nicolas Milhé, Claire Fontaine, etc.) displaying the very latest trends in contemporary art. Ranging from the Cuban artist Wilfredo Prieto to the young Korean HeeWon Lee, from Danish Joachim Kœster to Chen Zhen, a Chinese artist based in France from 1986 until his death, from the Frenchman Céleste Boursier-Mougenot to the American-Swiss duo Lang/Baumann, the artists are initiating a dialogue across all boundaries during a resolutely cross-cultural and international Nuit Blanche.

In order to encourage visitors to walk and stroll, the 2010 event has been structured around three deliberately compact zones to achieve maximum density.

• West Paris (centred on the Alma — Trocadéro area and the major cultural institutions — Palais de Tokyo, Musée Guimet, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, etc.).

• Central Paris (around the Île Saint-Louis, Île de la Cité and Marais district).

• East Paris (around the Belleville district, at the heart of an area of vibrant creative activity reinforced by the appearance of new galleries and also by the first Belleville Biennale held this year.)

These three zones will be connected throughout the night by metro lines 9 and 14, which will also become art venues (Dominique Blais on metro line 14; EnsAD at the disused Saint-Martin ghost station on line 9) as part of our continuing partnership with RATP, the Paris transport operator.

Each of these key zones in the capital will offer challenging and surprising art in venues which are in close proximity, creating a route suitable for pedestrians. Nuit Blanche is designed to create a close relationship between the city, art and the night.