Les Rues des Refusés

It doesn’t seem so long ago that Les Rues des Refusés was an idea, a seed waiting to be planted. Now we’re heading into the fourth annual LRDR and it’s going to be bigger and better than ever! Every year more people incorporate our program into their Nuit Blanche plans. Heck, some people make LRDR their Nuit Blanche priority! That little seed of an idea is growing into a full-fledged tree.

Last year we had over 30 contributions to LRDR from artists, performers, event organizers, and creative folk. This year we plan to exceed that! With Nuit Blanche being two months away we are officially accepting submissions for LRDR 2011. We’ve already confirmed installations from some of our past contributors and even a couple new participants. Let’s keep them coming!

As always we accept all forms of creativity and, as always, inclusion is free of charge. No matter what your medium or venue, whether you are a professional artist or someone who is curious to try something new, we want to include you in the program! Our only criteria for acceptance is your commitment to follow through and, of course, that you not already be a part of the official Nuit Blanche.

The submission deadline is September 18th.  Send your name, a description of your installation, the title, where and when it can be found, and any other pertinent information to ruesdesrefuses@gmail.com.

Having finally recovered from the sleepless night that was Nuit Blanche, I’ve had some time to contemplate the events of this past Saturday night/Sunday morning. I had a phenomenal experience and I hope you did too.

The best moment of the night came a little after midnight, not long after I began my adventure. I was near Yonge and Dundas and I had in my bike basket a bunch of my ‘Ceci n’est pas _____’ signs. A couple of women stopped to ask me if I was the one doing the ‘Ceci N’est Pas Une Ville’ piece. I was pleasantly surprised that they knew about LRDR and my personal project but even more so when I went to give them a copy of the program. They already had their own printed copy with their priority pieces highlighted! I know LRDR has reached a lot of people and is even endorsed by Nuit Blanche proper but this was the first time I really felt the success of the project.

Throughout the rest of the night I talked to many more people who knew about LRDR. I got an award with Chip (with a fun off-program installation that wasn’t in the guide), danced to the Game Boy Guerillas, had a parachute party, had shots with smurfs, put up around 25 signs of my own (did you spot any of them?), and so much more. The night ended with a dance/karaoke party in the Bell Light Box. There was so much more I would have loved to see, and I’m sorry if I missed your piece, but 12 hours is a surprisingly short amount of time. At least I can say that during those 12 hours I had a fantastic time.

It makes me sad to hear all the negativity regarding official Nuit Blanche. Some of it is justifiable, I spent a good hour around Yonge and Dundas without seeing a single (official) art piece, but I knew where to go if I wanted to sign up for a credit card (ScotiaBank: we know you’re the sponsor, we appreciate it, but come on). Yes Nuit Blanche was incredibly crowded, and yes because of that crowd I did not get to experience many of the official Nuit Blanche pieces, but the pieces I did see were phenomenal. One of the big draws of Nuit Blanche is the chance to experience a city transformed and, while I didn’t see many of the (official) pieces, I doubtlessly experienced that.

I really want to emphasize the DIY idea behind LRDR. Even if you aren’t an artist, even if you don’t think you can get something together for LRDR, there is still so much you can do to make Nuit Blanche a more interesting and interactive experience. For example, with my friends Dave, Joel and Caitlin who did the piece ‘Parachute Play’. They aren’t visual artists but that didn’t stop them from creating a piece for Nuit Blanche. I was lucky enough to run into them and we had a spontaneous parachute party in a parking lot on Queen Street. Within seconds of the parachute being unfurled we were surrounded by strangers who wanted to play. While the parachute wasn’t out for much more than 10 minutes I think that was a special moment for everyone who participated. There is nothing stopping anyone from creating happenings like this. Especially during Nuit Blanche when the audience is so receptive to anything out of the ordinary.

If you didn’t like the crowds or the corporate presence or even the art of Nuit Blanche this year please don’t let that stop you from going out and enjoying Nuit Blanche next year. Take your experience into your own hands and I guarantee you’ll have a brilliant night!

-Stephanie

We all adore Nuit Blanche for transforming downtown Toronto into an huge interactive art installation. It’s an amazing annual event that brings over a million people out to experience art. It is our goal with Les Rues des Refuses to enhance the Nuit Blanche experience by contributing even more art to the event. We here at LRDR, though lacking in the financial resources of Nuit Blanche proper, are in a unique position to promote art without being restricted by curated themes, limited placements, corporate interests, or city bylaws (see some of the street art we’ve included in the past). Anyone can be included in LRDR, regardless of their medium or method. In the past two years we’ve had everything from traditional art galleries to marching bands to poetry readings to interactive street art included in our guide.

With 2 months until Nuit Blanche, renegade artists are probably starting to think about what they’d like to contribute to Nuit Blanche (like myself, for example). We’d like to know what kind of art/events you’d like to see included in Nuit Blanche. Let us know and we’ll spread the word to our artist friends! Or maybe you’ll inspire a fellow reader to create some renegade art themselves! Because, also unlike Nuit Blanche proper, we are in a unique position to accept submissions until a week before Nuit Blanche. Which leaves plenty of time for all of you to suggest amazing ideas and for artists/performers/anyone interested in contributing to be inspired by them!

Nuit Blanche is just over two months away. On October 2, 2010, from sunset to sunrise, our city will once again turn into a giant interactive art experience. Once again, Les Rues des Refuses will be there with the renegade artists, further contributing to the amazing atmosphere of Nuit Blanche.

We are now officially accepting submissions to this years Rues des Refuses. Let us know what renegade art you’re thinking of doing for this year’s Nuit Blanche! There is no limit to the type of art we accept (take a look at the fantastic array of work displayed during 2009s LRDR). The only criteria for acceptance into LRDR are the commitment to follow through and, of course, not already being a part of the official Nuit Blanche.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a week since Nuit Blanche. I want to send out a huge thank you to everyone who has helped make Les Rues Des Refuses a success. It could never have happened without the participating artists. You took the initiative to create your own art, independent of the funding and publicity provided by official Nuit Blanche. You’ve shown that public art is possible even without corporate sponsorship. Thank you to the press for seeing potential in my little idea and helping share it with Toronto, bringing publicity to the unofficial art, events, and venues of the night. An enormous thank you to Sonya, my media maven. Without your help there is no way we could have reached as many people as we did. I cannot thank you enough. And, finally, major props to official Nuit Blanche. Regardless of the politics of public art and it’s corporate presence, you have created a spectacular night that cannot compare to any other Toronto event. This is a night like no other, where a million people want to see a city transformed! Without you, Nuit Blanche, Les Rues des Refuses would not, and maybe even could not, exist.

The folks at LRDR are going to take a breather and gather ourselves for next Nuit Blanche. Our web site, Twitter and Facebook are going to be dormant for a while but, after our much needed hibernation, we’re going to make LRDR even bigger and better!

See you next year,

Steph

Just wanted to give a big shout-out to all LRDR peeps. We hope your night was amazing and your experiences a success. We also hope you’ve caught up on your sleep!

Please let us know how your night went by commenting on our blog, or our Facebook page, and send us pics!

We hope you got a good night sleep last night, because you’re going to have a verrrrry long day. Maybe you should take a nap before all the festivities begin, but make sure you dress accordingly, take some snacks and a drink along with you, and put your art-patron’s hat on; you’re in a for a really good night.

Les Rues des Refusés founder Stephanie Avery will be tweeting throughout the night; and we hope that you will, too, to tell us all about what you’re seeing. Please use the hashtag “#LRDR” when possible!

We look forward to seeing everyone tonight!

woohoo!

Don’t you just love technology? You can either view our Event Listings page or download your very own LRDR Guide. So nice to have options…

How awesome is it that Les Rues Des Refusés is being mentioned in the local media? Really awesome.

Read up on what Leah Sandals of The National Post has to say about LRDR founder Stephanie Avery and our renegade project.

Within a few short days, you’ll be able to print a pdf of Les Rues Des Refuses events to coincide with Nuit Blanche. Download from this site, or pick one up at certain designated LRDR Guide locales. Watch this space!