Culture
Nuit Blanche Arts Fest Returns to Athens April 2-3
< < Back to nuit-blanche-arts-fest-returns-to-athens-april-2-3Nuit Blanche Athens, an annual all-night arts festival, returns to Athens this weekend, taking place April 2 -3 at multiple locations around town, featuring international and regional guest artists.
Nuit Blanche Athens’ 2016 theme, “Dreaming! Engaging! The Arts,” is spotlighting Ohio University and Athens community artists and their varied forms of innovation and imagination by engaging people of all ages in their own personal creative experiences.
The festival kicks off the afternoon of Saturday April 2 and continues through the early morning hours of Sunday April 3, and will feature multiple disciplines, including dance performances, music events and more.
This year, “PRE-NUIT,” a special mini arts festival for children will take place from 3:05 p.m. to 5:03 p.m. on April 2 at Howard Park. Additional venues include Athena Cinema, College Gate, Glidden Recital Hall, Shirley Wimmer Dance Theater, The Front Room (Baker Center) and 31 South Court Street (Woolworth Building), among others.
Nuit Blanche (meaning White Night, in French) is an annual all-night arts festival which is currently active in more than 100 cities from around the world including Paris, New York, Toronto, Montreal, Brussels, Rome, Madrid, Melbourne, Australia and Athens, Ohio. Nuit Blanche includes the participation of private and public cultural institutions, which are open and free of charge to the public.
The whole town or city itself turns into a de facto art gallery, providing space for art installations, performances (music, film, dance, performance art), ‘themed’ social gatherings and other activities. Nuit Blanche was created in Paris in 2002 to bring contemporary art to the public.
Nuit Blanche Athens was established (2013) and co-directed by Zelma Badu-Younge and Paschal Yao Younge, in conjunction with Ohio University Schools of Dance, and Music, and Azaguno Inc., a vibrant Multi-ethnic performance ensemble. Nuit Blanche Athens is dedicated to exploring a positive and safe way to experience the magic and the mysteries of the night, by “Creating A Whole New Meaning for Painting the Town!”
This year’s events are made possible through the support of Arts for Ohio, College of Fine Arts, Division of Dance, School of Music, Office of the Dean of Students – UFund, Kennedy Lecture Series, Multicultural Programs, Black Student Cultural Programming Board (BSCPB) and OhioDance.