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Kitty Hartl: "I want the Nuit Blanche to be playful and festive through an imaginary jungle"

Rumba, opera tunes, floating installations, dance, performances.

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Kitty Hartl: "I want the Nuit Blanche to be playful and festive through an imaginary jungle"

Rumba, opera tunes, floating installations, dance, performances... Saturday June 3, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., Paris and its suburbs will come alive along the Seine. Kitty Hartl, the artistic director of the Nuit Blanche for the second consecutive year, tells us behind the scenes of the event. After working with Jean Blaise, the artistic director in charge of the Nuit Blanche 2005, Kitty Hartl worked on the launch in 2000 of the Lieu Unique in Nantes, which became a national scene and created, in 2004, the Cabaret New Burlesque, a festive and humorous American troupe.

LE FIGARO. - What message do you want to convey through Nuit Blanche 2023?

Kitty Hartl. - This year, the Seine is at the heart of the event in a sort of prefiguration of the Olympic Games. And I was asked to also work on eco-responsibility. It was very close to my heart and I wanted us to become aware of ecology through the Nuit blanche. I had a shock while crossing Paraguay, where 90% of the trees have been eliminated because of the trade in soy and corn. It also caused the disappearance of many animals. So I said to myself, "you really have to react" and I wanted something very playful and festive by creating an imaginary jungle.

What shape will this jungle take?

The first form of this imaginary jungle is the Rumba, which will take place on the forecourt of the Hôtel de Ville, in the heart of Paris. One of the novelties of Nuit blanche 2023 is to involve children. There's a design project called Playsack: we created 12 animal-shaped costumes out of paper bags in a very simple and colorful design. We produced 2500 costumes and we invite children from 6 to 10 years old to put them on. Next to this animal world, I added Yetis Pop, which are quite playful, hybrid creatures that move around on rollerblades. And to add rhythm, there will also be very atypical mobile fanfares as well as the lion dance. We created an imaginary and fantastic world on the forecourt of the Hôtel de Ville.

The Nuit blanche will be held for the first time in June and not in October. What has changed for you?

It's always interesting to have a new challenge. We had to think because night falls at 10 p.m. In general, the Nuit blanche often involves screenings. So there was a whole other thought to look for works that exist during the day but also at night! That's also why I do works with children, because night falls later. Postponing the Nuit Blanche in June also means benefiting from milder weather.

Besides the Seine, are there any art projects that echo the Paris Olympics?

I always try to propose multidisciplinary projects, performances linked to the cultural Olympiad. Half of Carte Blanche's programming, of my artistic projects, was part of that of the cultural Olympiad in view of the Olympic Games, to combine art and sport. There are 118 proposed projects which are scattered throughout Paris and in the Greater Paris metropolis. Everyone was inspired by this parallel world, this imaginary jungle.

Beyond Le Havre and Rouen this year, can we imagine the Nuit Blanche in other cities?

That would be great ! But there, it was really a political will by connecting the cities thanks to the Seine. I hope they will develop it because it's a great opportunity culturally. You have to see politically and economically. But that's another story. La Nuit Blanche has been exported all over the world to Kyoto, Singapore, Taipei and Dallas, and it started in Paris.

What would be the ideal course for you?

Follow his instincts. There are works upstream and downstream of the Seine. My route goes from the port of Arsenal to the Palais Galliera, so if we follow all that it's great. There is also Opera River which goes from Arsenal to La Villette on the canals with gondolas which broadcast opera, it is very poetic. There are also works outside Paris for those who do not want to travel to the capital, such as Alfortville or Juvisy-sur-Orge. For me, it's very important to talk to everyone, it's very popular and the route along the Seine is a nice walk.

The entire Nuit Blanche 2023 program can be found here.

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