On the west side, starting from Trocadéro, flags wave as if for a political summit—except that these have lost their color and are white, grey, and black. This is a work of the Cuban artist Wilfredo Prieto, who attempts to erase symbolic national differences in order to let a universal pacifism emerge.

Farther on, the Guimet Museum opens its doors and reinstalls, for a while, the sculptures of Chen Zen. From a basinet wrapped in a thousand old clothes, to a tomb surmounted by a hanging scroll of nonsense symbols, to a old-fashioned typewriter purifying itself in an aquarium, this Chinese artists’ work provokes and exalts. Do not forget to admire the round table in the center of the rotunda on the fourth floor engraved with the text of the Rights of Man, surrounded by 29 chairs from 5 continents—symbolizing the 29 nations of the United Nations—overlooking a superb view of the lights of Paris.

Stunning swinging lights at the Foundation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint-Laurent, which you can admire from the exterior, looking like eccentric icons.

The gardens of the Palais Galliera are lit by an immense lamp, flashing the text of “La Part Maudite” by Georges Bataille in Morse Code. The Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, the Palais de Tokyo, and the Avenue de Président Wilson are alive with videos and light projected on gardens as well as other strange but beautiful creations made to surprise, astonish, and open minds.

Launched 9 years ago, the Nuit Blanche has been emulated in France, in Europe, and around the world, all year long. Amsterdam, Riga, Madrid, Bucarest, La Valette (Malta), Brussels, but also in Montreal, Bologne, Florence, Brescia, Tel Aviv, Singapore, Skopje (Macedonia), Santa Monica, Oran, Toronto, and in Slovakia, Palestine, and Vanuatu.

Nuit Blanche in Paris, official website
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