Traditionally Nocturne is a single night of memorable visual art and installations in venues and locations all over Halifax. But this year has been anything but traditional, and art has an incredible ability to reflect, adapt and react to the world around it.
Nocturne 2020 will be an extended event taking place from Monday, Oct. 12 to Saturday, Oct. 17, combining interactive, online programming and physically distanced installations, with more time to take everything in and observe COVID-19 health protocols.
Under the artistic leadership of curator Lindsay Dobbin, Nocturne 2020 carries the theme Echolocation, a term the festival describes as being “about connection, relationships, the environment, and community; all valid and important concepts to bring forward amidst a global pandemic, racial and civil unrest, and at a critical point in our fight against climate change.”
While many festivals have moved to strictly online programming during the pandemic, Nocturne 2020 offers 28 physical exhibitions, installations and events over the course of the week, along with 29 virtual programs, with some combining both in-person and online elements.
A complete guide to all Nocturne 2020 programming, both physical and virtual, is available at nocturnehalifax.ca/nocturne-guide.
Following Monday’s online What Does the Earth Ask of Us? keynote Q&A event with Robin Wall Kimmerer and Dobbin, Nocturne branches out to a daily lineup of virtual and physical programming. Participating galleries include the Centre for Art Tapes, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Argyle Fine Art, the Dart Gallery and 1313 Hollis. Public locations range from the installations and projections at the Halifax waterfront and Halifax Central Library courtyards to Halifax Common baseball diamond #2 for De-Position, a collective dance piece addressing understanding the Black experience.
On the event website, there are guides to planning your own Nocturne experience, or taking a curated tour of what it has to offer through the week.
There is also a rundown of COVID-19 precautions and accessibility to online and in-person programming, which includes ASL and closed captioning wherever possible.
Participants can stay up to date by following @NocturneHalifax on social media and use the hashtag #NocHfx20.
