Home Arts & LifeThis Nuit Blanche Installation Pays Tribute to Toronto’s Lost Queer Nightlife

This Nuit Blanche Installation Pays Tribute to Toronto’s Lost Queer Nightlife

"Disappearing Acts" is a celebration of the city’s gay community, says the artist, Nina Jeffares-Levitt

by Janna Abbas

A group of people at Sankofa Square facing a stage where a DJ is playing for Nuit Blanche.
A multi-screen video installation took over Sankofa Square for Nuit Blanche to commemorate the city’s lost queer nightlife. (OTR/Janna Abbas)

Listen to the whole story here:

One of the pillars at the "Disappearing Acts" installation at Nuit Blanche. It reads the artist's name and a description of the project.
Disappearing Acts is a 30-minute video that pays tribute to LGBTQ+ spaces that have been central to the gay and lesbian community in Toronto since the 1950s, according to the artist, Nina Jeffares-Levitt. (OTR/Janna Abbas)


“It’s kind of a celebration of where we’ve been as a gay community. We’re a very diverse community, but I think our roots came from this area, from this neighbourhood. And it’s a moment to kind of come together and remember,” Jeffares-Levitt said.

A group of people on Sankofa Square looking at the "Disappearing Acts" Nuit Blanche installation
Jeffares-Levitt says the decision to showcase the video at Sankofa Square is a deliberate one. (OTR/Janna Abbas)

“I wanted us to occupy the street where it was once illegal to be queer and to hang out,” she said. “And it’s intended for people to walk in, walk out, dance, talk to their neighbours. It’s not the kind of thing where you sit down and watch it.”

close-up of a poster at Nuit Blanche describing Nina Jefarres-Levitt's installation at Sankofa Square
 “I think it’s important that it’s part of [Nuit] Blanche, that they’ve selected this project and it’s [being shown at] a very prominent venue,” Jeffares-Levitt said. (OTR/Janna Abbas)
One of the screens displaying the "Disappearing Acts" video at Nuit Blanche. The screen reads: "The Beaver," one of the clubs featured.
The video displays the names of over 100 bars and clubs, says Jeffares-Levitt, that once played a part in shaping the city’s queer history, and includes early and contemporary footage of same sex couples dancing and hanging out. (OTR/Janna Abbas)
One of the pillars at the "Disappearing Acts" Nuit Blanche installation. On it are the names of all the clubs/bars featured in the project.
The names of the bars were also printed and posted on the pillars around the square. (OTR/Janna Abbas)

Jeffares-Levitt has done some public video projections before, she says, but nothing on this scale.

“I tried to rent the giant billboards in or around Dundas Square, but I never got anywhere with that. And when Sankofa offered me those screens, I jumped at the opportunity…Sankofa’s been incredibly generous, supportive,” she said. 

One of the screens displaying the "Disappearing Acts" video at Nuit Blanche. The screen shows footage of a same sex couple at a bar.
“They’re donating [the space] to me [for the installation]. I’m not paying for it. They’ve a mandate to support art events and they’ve been fantastic,” explained Jeffares-Levitt, noting she was glad when Sankofa offered its support. (OTR/Janna Abbas)
DJs Denise Benson and John Caffery at a DJ table, playing for the "Disappearing Acts" Nuit Blanche installation.
The video played on all five screens in the square from 7:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. Accompanying the video was a DJ dance party, led by some of the city’s legendary queer DJs, including Denise Benson (front right) and John Caffery (back left). (OTR/Janna Abbas)

Benson says she’s been DJing queer nights and a lot of queer events since the late ‘80s, DJing at events such as Dyke Nite at the Boom Boom Room. She says taking part in events like this installation, which commemorates the history of queer nightlife, is essential.

A group of people dancing and standing around at Sankofa Square for a Nuit Blanche installation.
“We have to share this from generation to generation. If we don’t share it, it gets lost,” she said. (OTR/Janna Abbas)

“There’s lots of young, queer, and trans folks doing radical, interesting, fun, sexy, awesome things in the city, and they need to know what has come before, so they can take it even higher,” Benson added.

People dancing at Sankofa Square during Nuit Blanche. One person has a dog on a leash.
While some attendees may have stumbled upon the installation throughout the night, others intentionally sought it out. (OTR/Janna Abbas)
A photo of Erika Hennebury at Sankofa Square for the "Disappearing Acts" installation
Erika Hennebury (pictured here) says she came to see the installation because she worked in a gay bar as a producer and theatre artist for a long time, so celebrating queer spaces is important to her. (OTR/Janna Abbas)

“I think it’s important for queer people to be living out loud in public space right now, especially with what’s happening in the world and the anti-queer and anti-trans rhetoric that’s really ramping up,” Hennebury said. “When we’re together, we’re safe.”

A headshot of Janna Abbas in front of a white background.

Janna Abbas is a Masters of Journalism student at TMU and a reporter for On The Record.

No AI tools were used in the production of this piece.

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