The people of Paris have never been known for their penchant for going to bed early, but last week they found an extra reason to stay up all night. They were taking in the sights and sounds of “Nuit Blanche”, a lively, spectacular open air contemporary art exhibition set up in six sections of the French capital.
The event is now in its fifth year, and since it began in 2002 has spread to other cities around the world such as Rome and Toronto. This year's theme of multiculturalism celebrated the city's vibrant and varied cultures and attracted a record 1.5 million visitors.
Art fans, armed with cameras and mobile phones, strolled around the exhibition, or rode around on bikes provided by the city, admiring and sometimes even eating the artworks. 90 percent of those works were created just for this event, said Jerome Sans, one of the artistic directors.
PHOTO: AP
Highlights included a Felix Gonzalez-Torres sculpture made out of sweets, which visitors helped themselves to, a Jacob's Ladder by Thierry Dreyfus suspended in the night sky at the national library and, rising out of the shadows in the Eglise Saint-Bernard, a glittering skull made out of kitchen utensils by India's Subodh Gupta.
The event is one of several unusual happenings introduced by the city's go-getting left wing mayor Bertrand Delanoe in an effort to liven up the city's image — at a cost. The “Nuit Blanche,” roughly translated as “All-Nighter,” cost the city 1,115,000 euros (NT$46,614,555), with sponsors contributing another 500,000 euros (NT$20,877,259).(AFP)
大家都知道巴黎人一向沒有早睡的習慣，不過上週他們又找到了一個徹夜不眠的理由。民眾參加「夜未眠」的聲光饗宴，也就是在法國首都巴黎六區所展出的活潑、美輪美奐的露天現代藝術展。
今年的活動是第五屆，自從二○○二年首辦以來，已有羅馬與多倫多等世界其他城市響應。今年的主題是多元文化主義，以慶祝巴黎市的活躍與多元文化，吸引了一百五十萬名參觀者，創下新高。
帶著照相機與手機的藝術愛好者繞著展場步行，或騎上市府提供的腳踏車四處跑，在欣賞之餘還可以食用藝術品。藝術總監之一傑諾米．桑斯表示，九成的藝術品是為了這項活動特別打造的。
焦點藝術品包括︰甜點製成的拱薩拉特瑞雕像，參觀者可自行享用；懸吊在國家圖書館夜空的提利．德雷福斯之作品《雅各的天梯》；從聖伯納教堂的影子高高升起、廚具製成的閃亮頭顱，是印度藝術家蘇波得．庫普塔的作品。
這項活動是野心勃勃的左翼派市長德拉諾致力活化城市形象所推行的幾項特殊活動之一，不惜斥資大手筆。夜未眠計畫的法文Nuit Blanche可概略譯為英文的「All-nighter」，讓巴黎市花了一百一十一萬五千歐元（新台幣四千六百六十一萬四千五百五十五元），另有五十萬歐元（新台幣二千零八十七萬七千二百五十九元）是由贊助者提供。 （法新社/翻譯：賴美君）
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