white out
27 September 2006. Inspired by a special night of amazing things.
Last weekend was Madrid's Noche en Blanco, an event that had cynics throughout the city reminding you that the local elections are fast approaching.
I don't care about the motives, cos it was flipping great. More than 200 venues across the city opened their doors from 9pm until 6am (for the adventurous; some wimped out at 3am), hosting all manner of strangely wonderful things. A robot orchestra played in the foreign ministry; a gospel choir sang in the army barracks; a huge copyleftfest was held in a massive patio; and at 6.30am, as the sun rose, 130 musicians hid themselves all over the park and started playing.
And it didn't stop there. To support the free, city-wide event, main roads were closed to all but the special night buses; some bars served tapas even later than normal; and programmes and maps were everywhere around.
What made the night special wasn't just the events. It was walking from one venue to another, encountering unexpected noises and happenings en route (oo! let's go there now!), and nodding at the others clutching the special blue brochures and maps. I strolled down the Gran Via among the normal drunken detritus of Saturday night, occasionally passing others, sober like me and giddy with excitement about where they were going next. The city turned into a secret theme park, specially built for one night only for all of us who wanted to play.
My personal favourite was an advanced version of this, where the operator (I assume one of the piece's makers) turned the shadows into tiny, interacting narratives, occasionally grabbing people from the crowd to dance in front of the shadowboard, or to attack his former shadow selves on the screen. The fact that it was inside the spectacularly-lit post office made it even better. There's some photos from the night to be found on Flickr - have a scan and admire the lighting. This year, the event also takes place in Rome, Riga, Brussels and Paris. Everyone should have one. I admit it, I wimped out at 4am. Perhaps free coffee stations next year would be too much to ask?
Whatever next? An official, government-sponsored Cruel Game? (yes please)