An interactive art installation created and performed by local musicians stole the show at this year’s Nuit Blanche.
By: Elisabeth Kehler
Glowing, musician-filled cubes were the big hit of this year’s Nuit Blanche, according to some Red River College Polytechnic students. This year, the annual nighttime celebration of art expanded its programming to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights for the first time.
“The human rights museum was great,” said Mykyta Gofman, a second-year Electrical Engineering Technology student. “I think the best part was where they had people play musical instruments, and you could change the colour of the background.”
Thousands of visitors observed and took part in interactive art displays inside the museum including Ludochroma, an installation by local band Savant Flaneur and Alex Milevic. The trio performed live from inside three large, illuminated cubes. In front of each cube was a button panel. Onlookers were invited to walk up and hit buttons to change the colour of the cubes’ light or switch them on and off during the performance.
“The musician one is what stood out most for me. I didn’t realize people were controlling the lights at first,” said Roberta Forbes, a first-year Digital Media Design student. “I thought that was really cool.”
Hailey Collom, a first-year Creative Communications student, was also a first-year Nuit Blanche attendee. Collom said she decided to check out the event with some friends after learning about it in her Digital Media Design course.
“There were so many people there that I was like, how have I never heard of it before,” Collom said. “It was cool. We walked around and then ended up jamming out at a concert in St. Boniface until 11 or so.”
Frances Wellink, the director of business development at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, said she heard many visitors describe the museum’s event as the star of the night.
“This is a great event for the city,” Wellink said. “It really opened up and made the downtown alive. We gotta do these events and bring people downtown and make people feel safe.”
