Take A Tour at Nocturne
Nocturne is filled with magic and wonder and so many incredible projects that it may seem impossible to see it all! We have curated FIVE tours to help you brainstorm your night, kick-start your experience, or just capture a small piece of the festival from our point of view:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Tori Fleming - Nocturne 2019 Curator (Anchor + Beacon Artist Tour)
2. Gabriel Soligo - Chair of the Nocturne Board of Directors (Local Artists + Community Group Tour)
3. Yeha Ahn - Nocturne Director of Volunteers (Tour Theme: land claims, belonging, and more)
4. Brianne Bezanson - Nocturne Director of Communications (Family Friendly Tour)
5. Dalhousie Architecture Students’ Association(Zone 1 Tour re: Scaffold theme)
1. Tori Fleming - Nocturne 2019 Curator
Welcome to the wonky half built world of Scaffold - the 2019 Nocturne Art at Night Festival. I’m this year’s festival curator, Tori Fleming, and I could not be more excited to share my tips on how to navigate this year’s festival and maybe fall in love.
I think the secret to Nocturne is to keep an open mind and be intuitive. Really enjoying something? Don’t rush! Stay an hour! Hear a strange noise around the corner? Go see what it is! There’s a magic to the power of the public taking over the streets to embrace whimsical new ideas. Many festivals ago my husband took me on a first date to Nocturne. Am I saying that Nocturne is the secret to a happy marriage? Yes. I absolutely am. So join me for a romantic tour of the most bizarre city development you’ve ever seen…
Your first stop is not on Nocturne at all, but anytime the week before at Caroline Monnet’s History Shall Speak for Itself which is installed for the entire month of October on Scotia Square. Most people will see this work from the outside but you, my clever Nocturne go-er, will go visit during the day and see the work up close from the inside of the Scotia Square food court. Maybe go on Friday the 18th, and get a little food to help you recover from the Kick Off party you went to on Thursday the 17th at Seven Bays Bouldering. If you’re curious about who these folks in the mural, take a stroll towards NSCAD in the pedway system and read a bit about them while standing over top of Barrington street.
On the big night you’ll start your tour promptly at 6pm so you don’t miss a minute of the good stuff. I would start my night in Dartmouth, but feel free to do this tour in reverse. While you still have a lot of energy, head on over to Alderney Landing to see Nathalie Quagliotto’s Maturity Playground. These play structures are absolutely available for you to play on. Maybe grab a friend and share the swing set (see?! I told you Nocturne was romantic).
Next you’ll jump on the ferry and head on over to the Halifax side. On the ferry you’ll join Ferry-Oke and sing Garth Brook’s hit song Friends in Low Places. You’ll nail it.
Once you dock at the end of your harbour journey you’ll head down the boardwalk to Kastor and Pollux’s Greetings from the End of the World. Complete with buskers and food stands, this little tourism village will welcome you to a post-apocalyptic Halifax. Grab a postcard and write a little note to someone you love, maybe to that person you shared the swingset with?
From here you’ll head on up to the NSCAD Port Campus to see Memory Keepers III NUJIMIKWITE’TAQATIJIK III. Remember how much you loved that Caroline Monnet piece you visited on Friday? Well she helped create this one too, along with Carrie Allison, Sebastien Aubin, Darcie Bernhardt and Tom Mcleod, Jerry Evans, Megan Kyak-Monteith and Jason Sikoak.
Next, you head up towards the old Central Library on Spring Garden road. It won’t take you long to find where you’re going because it’s hard to miss a 20ft. unicorn. Disco Beast by Jonathan Monaghan is a seventeen minute loop. If you’re doing it right, you’ll stay for all seventeen minutes of this glorious video. While you watch the unicorn’s condo building spiral into the sky, let that sweet 80’s synth take you away. If your swing friend doesn’t like the synth - maybe reconsider if they’re the one.
From here you can walk down Argyle street past Anne MacMillan’s animated Rattle Array and cut down into Parade Square, through Jessica Weibe’s A (Temporary) Memorial to Ongoing Conflict and War.
Next, we head over to the Staples parking lot on Gottingen street, which is where I leave you my dear Nocturne go-er. As you enter the parking garage you’ll find yourself in The Brandscape, an imagined world created by the fine folks at Tough Guy Mountain. Within this interactive VR experience (and if you’re lucky with your timing - performance piece!) you’ll be stuck forever in intern purgatory. But who cares about an indefinite lifetime in purgatory when you’re now deeply in love with your friend from the swings?
And there it is, my tips on how to get the most out of your Nocturne and maybe fall in love. Don’t forget to wear mittens and bring some water. See you out there, friends!
To follow Tori's suggested tour, save it in The Nocturne Interactive Guide: Save Tour
2. Gabriel Soligo - Chair of the Nocturne Board of Directors
Hi there, I’m the Chairperson of the Nocturne: Art at Night Board of Directors! You can follow this route to see projects by some of our talented local artists and community centres. Remember to layer up for your extended outside time this evening, and team up with good friends you’ll want to share the night with.
302. Ursula Handleigh’s In Deep Waters at Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
205. Three Little Pigs by Ryan Henwood, Claire Bennet & Polaris Choir in St. Paul’s Church on Argyle Street (beside Grand Parade Square)
204. Unfounded by Anke Fox and Leif Peter Fuchs at 1740 Granville Street
404. 33 by Kate Macdonald and Kordeena Clayton at Menz & Mollyz Bar
206. Embed and Embody by NOISEmakers and NSCAD Art Factory at Anna Leonowens Gallery
Ferry-Oke
501. SUGAR SHACK/ CABANE À SUCRE by Louis-Charles Dionne at 6 Victoria Road
To follow Gabriel's suggested tour, save it in The Nocturne Interactive Guide:
3. Yeha Ahn - Nocturne Director of Volunteers
My name is Yeha Ahn and I’m the Director of Volunteers with Nocturne: Art at Night. My full-time job involves recruiting volunteers and spreading awareness for the North American Indigenous Games 2020, which is taking place here in K’jipuktuk (Halifax) in July 2020. For my tour, I’ve highlighted artists and projects that explore themes of land claims, monuments, waterways, and belonging. If you start this tour from #1 to 7 you’ll travel from South End to North End, but you can also flip the order if you want to start from the North End.
My top tip for enjoying Nocturne is to dress for the weather as a lot of installations take place outside. Stumbling upon art by accident is an incredible experience. Prior research, however, can help you understand better, but you’re already reading this so you’re on the right path!
302. In Deep Waters by Ursula Handleigh at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
304. Memory Keepers III Nujimikwite’taqatijik III by GLAM COLLECTIVE at Treaty Space Gallery, 1107 Marginal Rd
202. Replacing the Monument by Camila Salcedo at Park at South & Hollis St
107. Eulogy by Settlers in Solidarity, Bruce Barber & Shannon Donovan at Dalhousie Sexton Campus, 5381 Spring Garden Rd
104. The Silence and Sound After by Nat Chantel at Cathedral Church of All Saints, 1330 Cathedral Ln
200. History Shall Speak for Itself by Caroline Monnet at Scotia Square 2nd floor window
404: 33 by Kate Macdonald & Kordeena Clayton at Menz & Mollyz Bar, 2182 Gottingen St
To follow Yeha's suggested tour, save it in The Nocturne Interactive Guide:
4. Brianne Bezanson - Nocturne Director of Communications
Welcome, friends, to Nocturne! My tour was curated especially for all the families dedicated to heading out early on the night of Nocturne. We encourage everyone to take their kids out to Nocturne to allow them to celebrate and enjoy all that K’jipuktuk/Halifax art scene has to offer. They’ll love the adventure - and we were sure to include some things on the tour for the adults, too!
This suggested tour takes you through Downtown Dartmouth (Zone 5), on a ferry ride (Ferry-Oke, anyone?), on the Halifax Waterfront (Zone 3), and finishes in Downtown Halifax (Zone 2). During the evening, you’ll get hands-on experience using a vintage letterpress to make your own keepsake, plus there will be lots of singing, dancing, and even bears!
505. Keeping Octopied: Activities of Octopuses on Land by The Trainyard General Store & Rita Van Tassel at 53 Portland St
503. Electric Avenue by the Businesses of Downtown Dartmouth, located on Portland St
502. Variations Botaniques/ Botanic Variations by Collectif Hat: Tracey Richard, Angie Richard & Hyacinthe Raimbault at 90 Alderney Dr
500. Maturity Playground by Nathalie Quagliotto at Ferry Terminal Park, 88 Alderney Dr
Ferry-Oke
305. Art Perspective, Be Introspective by CNIB & Sarah Mosher at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in the Small Craft Gallery
The Hub - Sackville Landing
301. Bear Witness by Scott Sharplin & Suzi Oran Aylward at The Wave, 1655 Lower Water St
300. Greetings from the End of the World by Kastor and Pollux on the Halifax Waterfront near Salter Block Parking Lots, 1521 Lower Water St.
207. Halifax Circus & Incendia Motus at 1479 Barrington St
205. Three Little Pigs by Ryan Henwood, Claire Bennet, Polaris Choir at St. Paul’s Church, 1749 Argyle St
200. History Shall Speak for Itself by Caroline Monnet - Scotia Square 2nd floor window (best viewed from Barrington St, though!)
212. Nocturne at the Dawson Printshop by The Letterpress Gang, 1895 Granville St
*I suggest parking in Scotia Square and taking an early ferry to Dartmouth to kick off your tour.
To follow Brianne's suggested tour, save it in The Nocturne Interactive Guide:
5. Dalhousie Architecture Students’ Association
This suggested tour guides you through Nocturne installations that focus on the emerging architectural principles present in the urban fabric during periods of booming construction. A collection of experience exposes you to the principles of shifting form, painting with light, community building, forced perspective, and the journey through solid and void, through compression and release.
Centered around the Spring Garden Road + Universities Zone, this tour is walkable and impactful. Starting this tour at the old Memorial library on Spring Garden road this tour includes:
100. Disco Beast by Jonathan Monaghan at Old Memorial Library, 5381 Spring Garden Rd
107. Eulogy by Settlers in Solidarity, Bruce Barber & Shannon Donovan at Dalhousie Sexton Campus, 5381 Spring Garden Rd
110. Assembly by Dalhousie Architecture Students’ Association at the Dalhousie Ralph Medjuk Building, 5410 Spring Garden Rd
101. Homelight by Marla Benton & Andrea Puszkar at Halifax Central Library in the Paul O’Regan Hall
103. Scalados by Chris Foster at The Doyle Rotunda, 1511 Queen St
102. Luminous Cloud by Passage Studio: Thomas Evans & Jonathan Mandeville at Halifax Public Gardens
113. The Island of Misfits’ Funhouse by Island of Misfits Media at Park Lane Mall, Suite 100
To follow DASA's suggested tour, save it in The Nocturne Interactive Guide:
Interested in making your own tour? Check out the Nocturne Interactive Guide or grab a copy of the The Guide in The Coast!
Or learn more about how to get the most out of The Guide HERE