Lumière seeks project proposals for 2015 festival

Cape Breton’s most notable annual contemporary arts festival, Lumière, has announced its call for project proposals for the 2015 event. Submissions will be accepted beginning Monday, February 23rd until April 20th, 2015.

Entering its fifth year, Lumière is Cape Breton’s only art-at-night event. In the spirit of the international Nuit Blanche phenomenon, Lumière brings art to the streets, shop fronts, sidewalks, and public spaces of downtown Sydney. Each year the festival presents fresh, contemporary art projects that transform civic spaces.

Chair of the festival, Alyce Maclean states that “Artists from across the island are encouraged to apply. We’re looking for all artistic mediums: visual arts, dance, theatre and performance, music and sound, film and video, fine craft, and any other forms of expression people employ. We hope to see it all!”

Artists participating in Lumière typically receive an honorarium. “Part of our mandate is to bring residents of the CBRM a high quality contemporary arts festival, and that includes paying our artists.” Maclean says the festival refers to the standards set by Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC) as a guide for fair remuneration.

In 2014, the event brought over 7,000 people to Sydney’s downtown core. It also earned the Sydney Area Chamber of Commerce’s People’s Choice Award for Favourite Outdoor Experience in 2013. This year, Lumière will take place over three days: artist talks and workshops will be held on September 24th and 25th, and the art-at-night event will take place on Saturday, September 26th, 2015. The deadline to apply is April 20th, 2015 at 11:59 PM.