Every year in October, for one night called La Nuit Blanche, Paris becomes a giant art exhibit. Displays are located in a variety of places, some of which seem obvious, like the Centre Georges Pompidou (Modern Art Museum), but also in places as inconspicuous as a storefront. Following the map from exhibit to exhibit I got to see a lot of the city in a different way than it presented itself to me day-to-day. Some places I went to were traditionally only open during business hours, so it was interesting to walk through tall stone archways into a courtyards enclosed by buildings the radiated a sense of power, and to see those walls lit up with haunting images of a silent film instead of sunlight.
With the COP 21 coming to Paris, this year’s Nuit Blanche theme was climate change. Some exhibits meanings were difficult to decipher, like a woman dancing in front of a projector with loud music playing. Others, however, sent a very clear and powerful message about the dangers of climate change. My favorite was set up in an old church in Le Marais. It was a broken boat sinking into sea of shattered glass, a representation of what will happen to us if we fail to address climate change.
Photo taken by Mallory Busch
Every ten minutes a foghorn would sound as a symbolic reminder of a warning the world was not heeding. Shredded paper hung from the ceiling as a reminder of legislation not passed and the world’s inaction.