From Saturday, October 4th at 6:53 pm till sunrise on Sunday, October 5th, Chinatown/Queen Street West will be for the first time ever transformed into a canvas full of exciting art exhibitions. The area will host one of the four main sites for the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche – a free all-night contemporary art event. Chinatown/Queen Street West’s project theme is titled, “The Possibility of Everything”. Visitors will find a concentration of art exhibitions along Spadina Avenue between College Street and Queen Street West, and along Queen Street West between University Avenue and Spadina Avenue. A number of restaurants and merchants will extend business hours to warmly welcome visitors to the neighbourhood. Chinatown alone will host 4 major projects, and various independent installations.
In addition, Chinatown Business Improvement Area (Chinatown BIA) is pleased to present the Awakened Lion (醒獅), an all-night art installation at the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2014. The installation showcases talents from youth and young adult artists in the Toronto Chinatown community while highlighting brilliant art pieces created by master craftsmen from China. This will be a journey of discovery, and a unique chance to see the art pieces blend into their surroundings; harmonizing and sometimes even contradicting with each other.
The Awakened Lion (醒獅) features several lion installations and murals created by the Chinatown BIA volunteers as part of the Traditional Chinese Lion Head Rejuvenation Project. You can find this inspirational installation at the Chinatown Center Lower Courtyard (located at 222 Spadina Avenue). Performers will be on-site to provide periodic demonstrations and in-depth information about the history of the Chinese Lion Dance.
The Chinatown BIA is also proud to showcase three community murals located at #397, #421 and #484 Dundas Street West. These murals are created by local artists who present various traditional Chinese themes. The murals are on display year round.
Information flyers will be distributed at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Information Booth located at the Chinatown Center Courtyard. Please contact the Chinatown BIA at 416-260-9800/ administrator@chinatownbia.com for more information on the community projects. Please go to http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/ for details about the feature exhibitions.