Up all night: Nuit Blanche takes over European Quarter for first time

For its 14th edition, Nuit Blanche is for the first time leaving the Pentagon behind and taking place in the European Quarter.

For those who are not familiar with it, Nuit Blanche (the French term for staying up all night) takes place on the first Saturday night in October. The event, which usually draws about 100,000 people, takes a fresh look at spaces everyone is familiar with as well as opening up parts of the city that are usually closed or not easily accessible to the public, using those places for hybrid performances, multimedia projects and unusual and interactive installations.

The projects are assessed by a selection committee on such criteria as artistic quality, originality, creativity/innovation, the inclusive and interactive aspects and the unusual way of reclaiming the city. This year 225 applications were received of which 30 were selected - nine artists resident in Belgium and 21 international artists from Scandinavia, the US, Italy, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Syria and the Palestinian Territories.

The theme this year is borders - and it is not incidental that the event has moved to the European Quarter this year. The Nuit Blanche organisers want "to get people thinking about what the theme represents politically, socially and symbolically" and "to break down the borders between individuals, cultures, and disciplines, using art to encourage encounters."

Clearly, the issue of migration is a major topic in the halls and conference rooms of the European institutions. Many of the artists taking part this year aim to get people thinking and asking questions about migratory flows, the concepts of exile and belonging and the relationship with the other.

A perfect example of this is "Another Place" by Palestinian/Syrian author, journalist and activist Doha Hassan and British theatre maker Victoria Lupton with sound designer Tim Bamber. Participants will go on an audio walk (mp3s can be downloaded to your smartphone) that will give a tour of the district and a telling of Hassan's experiences in exile.

But there are also more light-hearted proposals. Belgian artist and choreographer Tuur Marinus takes over the Gallery of the Dinosaurs in the Natural Sciences Museum to show us the elegant movement of animals such as a leaping cat or a flying pigeon as performed by human bodies.

Nuit Blanche, 1 October 19.00-3.00
www.nuitblanche.brussels