Art night long

It’s that time of year again! For one night only you can be an art-goer from dusk to dawn with Nuit Blanche Toronto 2017, experiencing installations and performances by some of Toronto’s most inspired artists – and all for free.

In an age of technology, can we still depend on the human voice alone for communication and amplification? This idea is explored in the AGO’s Nuit Blanche installation The Forest, a new performance by former AGO artist in residence Will Kwan. Our offering is part of the Dundas Street Corridor Zone, titled Calculating Upon the Unforeseen and organized by curator Clara Halpern.

The Forest is a performance that plays with the force and fragility of the human voice, and the capacity for humans to build bonds across time and space through their words. Inspired by the low-tech “human microphone”— a technique popularized by activists to amplify speech in public gatherings — performers carry the messages of a speaker, voice to voice, through the gathered audience.

Featuring over 60 performers and occupying the centre of Walker Court, the AGO’s large lobby space and the centre of the Gallery, the words and stories that flow through the "microphone" will reflect on ideas around time and human evolution, all while encouraging onlookers to slow down from the usual pace of life (and the rest of Nuit Blanche).

Visit the AGO on September 30 starting at 7 pm (for free) and witness this powerful performance. You can also join an On-the-Dot tour, and explore the many Level 1 galleries being transformed by Look:Forward, an exciting reinstallation of the AGO Collection.

Are you an AGOinsider yet? If not, sign up to have stories like these delivered straight to your inbox every week.