Engaging community with art takes more - Nuit Blanche to the rescue

Whatever we engage in becomes engaging.

This is not a particularly profound thought. In fact, it's quite linear and quite logical. Yet, it is a statement that more than applies to art and how we experience art -- as individuals, as a community and as a culture and a society.

I had the occasion last week to discuss the sad reality that Toronto's art scene is not self-sustaining. To qualify: this does not mean there is no community. In fact, there are strong localized artistic communities and, at times, these communities cross over to support other avenues and genres. But, for most Canadian artists, their success depends on recognition outside our borders (the exception being Quebec, whose language helps insulate the culture, which then provides a medium for artists to express and grow in a self-sustaining, nurturing environment).

Enter Nuit Blanche.

While I was not in Toronto to personally witness this event, accounts from friends attest that Nuit Blanche was the first exciting, encompassing and thoroughly community arts driven event to happen in Toronto since the 1960s (the time of free love and music in hippie-Yorkville). The event provided people an opportunity to walk around and take in art -- not simply in a gallery setting (though a variety of galleries, including UofT's Hart House, participated) but on the street, in the parks and in community centres. The event was an opportunity for art and community to intermingle -- to engage.

The reality is what we engage in DOES become engaging even if someone 'official' doesn't call it art (doesn't call it important). There are many that would question the integrity and validity of a mythical world created around the imaginary sport of wrestle-bowling (Bowl-brawl), but for 25 or so people on Saturday night this fantasy became reality through a guided walking tour of the life of Toronto-based Bowl-brawlers.

By all accounts Nuit Blanche was a success. Not only did it get people of Toronto out of their beds at 2am, 3am and 4am for art, it allowed us to commune and engage...to become a part of the experience. By wandering the streets of downtown Toronto, by opening the doors of homes, and restaurants and clubs and galleries, people disengaged from the safety of their confines (their private walls) and became a part of something public and whole.

The fact that art has always provided a medium and an avenue to illicit memories and emotion, to test boundaries, to provide solidarity and to entertain is not lost on many of us. But what is lost is the sense of community -- the idea that anybody, regardless of taste, education and status, can enjoy art. Nuit Blanche reminded us of that. It tore down the boundaries between art and audience and allowed all to engage in the process. It provided the impetus for viewer to become a part of the art -- enabling those superficial boundaries of creator and audience to morph into creator and participant.

The art community in Toronto sorely needed Nuit Blanche, as did the culture of Toronto. This event not only provided artists an avenue to express, but it provided the city a chance to explore. It allowed us all to engage.

But what, you may ask, does this have to do with responsible living? Everything. If the motor of our society is economics, than the heart and soul of our collective culture is art, in all its forms. Yet, in almost all Canadian provinces (with the notable exception being Quebec) our artists cannot find a base with which to support and sustain their creativity. Not that we do not have a wealth of talent among our borders -- we just don't have a wealth of people willing to invest time, money and energy into supporting the various scenes. Nuit Blanche was an opportunity for artists and viewers to break that cycle. It provided an opportunity to engage and participate -- and as a result created a small pocket of self-sustained, community-engaged art and culture. Let's hope we can carry this initiave forward; let's hope we can take the art out down from the gallery walls, and out of the grungy basements so that all may become involved: spiritually, economically and emotionally.

Kudos to the organizers! I'm sorry I missed the experience first hand.

NOTE: Unfortunately, while the night was a success it did little to change the (current) prevailing attitude toward art and artists at City Hall. Even as the Nuit Blanche final touches were being decided on Saturday, a city decision signalled the demise of a the Abell Street artist dwelling.
For more on this story go to:
http://www.thestar.com/ and search: Sep. 30, 2006. 01:00 AM, reporter: MURRAY WHYTE