The Wishing Boat
NUIT BLANCHE
2026
One night. One boat. Hundreds of voices in dozens of languages.
The Wishing Boat invites participants to write wishes, poems, and messages on a large white origami boat sculpture during Nuit Blanche 2026. Located near City Hall in the heart of Toronto, this participatory artwork honors the city's history of welcoming immigrants while creating a new collective memory through shared stories.
The Wishing Boat
A participatory sculpture for Nuit Blanche Toronto 2026
The Wishing Boat is a large-scale white origami boat sculpture that invites you to leave your mark on Toronto's creative landscape. Made from wood and painted with a surface designed for writing, this 2-meter vessel becomes a collective canvas for immigrant voices, dreams, and memories.
The boat is a universal symbol of journey, of leaving one shore and hoping to reach another. For immigrants, it represents the courage to cross into the unknown. Throughout the night of October 3-4, 2026, this boat will transform from a pristine white sculpture into a vibrant archive covered in wishes, poems, and stories written in dozens of languages.
How to Participate
Find the Wishing boat during Nuit Blanche (7 p.m. October 3 to 7 a.m. October 4, 2026)
Take a marker (provided on site)
Write your wish, poem, or message directly on the boat's surface in any language that feels like home.
Read what others have written and become part of a collective story
No appointment needed. No time limit. No rules about what to write. Your words matter, whether you arrived in Toronto yesterday or decades ago, whether you write one sentence or fill an entire section of the boat.
By sunrise, the boat will be covered in the handwriting of hundreds of people from everywhere. You'll be part of creating tomorrow's memory.