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The Ministry of Culture, In cooperation with the Bahraini Embassy in Paris, has organized a cultural journey to the French Capital to witness the beauty of this year’s, Nuit Blanche Festival, held from 7pm until 7am on Saturday the 5th of October. Already in its twelfth edition, the festival will this year play host to more art and music than ever before, even making use of brand new venues as yet unopened to the public.

Ms. Ranwa Al-Amsi and Ms. Fatima Abd Ali, representing the Ministry of Culture, were invited to attend the festival most cherished events during three days, staring with the organization of the vent, coordination and launch. Both Bahrainis ladies met with famous culture figures, officials from the French Ministry of Culture and the Nuit Blanche Festival organizers. They were able to transmit the lovely atmosphere of this exceptional until dawn cultural event night given their understanding of the cultural mechanisms of the world’s culture public present at the festival.

The Bahraini delegation met with Juliet Sulzmann, Head of Cultural Affairs, responsible for receiving and welcoming delegations, at the International Relations Department, French Ministry of Culture, who briefed them on the festival cultural background and reasons for holding it. First launched in 2002, Paris Nuit Blanche (White Night) has become a hotly-anticipated annual celebration of all things art and culture in the city of light. Attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, Nuit Blanche sees countless Paris galleries, museums, city halls, and even swimming pools open their doors all night to visitors-- with free entry. Elaborate light installations, edgy performances, concerts, and unclassifiable happenings of all sorts await. The decade-old Nuit Blanche is a free dusk 'til dawn carnival of arts and culture inspired by St Petersburg's 'White Nights', where music and the arts keep the population entertained throughout the long summer evenings when the sun never sets. In Paris, the premise is simple: for one night only, let art take over the city, and let the city be in its thrall. An ever-changing roster of artistic directors takes over different portions of the city every year, commissioning hundreds of works that are all about finding new ways for citizens to interact with the urban space. From clouds of paper butterflies settling on neoclassical columns to church naves sprouting enormous bejewelled skulls, Nuit Blanche is a riotously popular way to engage with cutting edge artistry

This year for the first time, the banks of the Seine river, from Maison de la Radio in the city's west to the eastern suburb of Ivry, were transformed for the occasion of Nuit Blanche. Installations were concentrated on the banks but also err further inland. Drifting and zig-zagging is highly encouraged this year.This year, also for the first time, the city is opening several buildings to the public from which to enjoy dazzling panoramas over Paris. These will include: The upper terrace of the Morland Tower (4th arrondissement - Metro Sully Morland), The 9th floor of the Institut du Monde Arabe (5th arrondissement - Metro Jussieu),The 24th floor of the Zamansky Tower at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (5th - Metro Jussieu), The 18th floor of the Bibliotheque François Mitterrand (13th - Metro Bibliotheque).

Ms. Ranwa Al-Amsi and Ms. Fatima Abd Alialso met with The Olivier Deseez, Responsible for the Middle East at the French Ministry of Culture, who argued that the festival is a unique cultural manifestation, reflecting the French culture and Paris embracing the world, including the Gulf region. He argued that autumn in Paris is as much about reinvigorating the community's artistic ésprit as it is about falling leaves and the end of summer. Indeed, led by the Nuit Blanche festival, held every year from 7pm 'til 7am on the first Saturday in October, the city blossoms into a fantastic harvest of art, music and theatrical events. It's an unmissable time to visit, or for resident expats to shake off their post-summer sloth and get out and enjoy the city like true Parisians. First launched in 2002, Paris Nuit Blanche (White Night) has become a hotly-anticipated annual celebration of all things art and culture in the city of light. Attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, Nuit Blanche sees countless Paris galleries, museums, city halls, and even swimming pools open their doors all night to visitors with free entry. Elaborate light installations, edgy performances, concerts, and unclassifiable happenings of all sorts await.

The second day both Bahraini ladies had the chance to experience how to melt down amid the bells and sounds coming from everywhere ; as at twelve past eight on a gorgeous July morning in London, Big Ben starts chiming. For the next three minutes, bells ring in concert all across the UK, heralding the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games, Martin Creed, the brainchild of the provocative British artist Martin Creed, this mesmerising piece of participatory art, is now coming to Paris. The idea is that everyone across the city joins in by ringing anything at hand for three minutes continuously, beginning at 7pm on the dot. British artist Martin Creed kicked-start the 12th edition of Nuit Blanche by simultaneously ringing all the church bells along the Nuit Blanche route. Visitors and delegations from Bahrain, Toronto, Syria, Singapore and elsewhere, also joined in the bell ringing by clicking on any instrument at hand and staring a visit to one of the deserted churches of the Capital, Paris, where a French artist is holding a fiberglass art exhibition. The exhibition is accompanied by religious hymns.

Anyone with a phobia of creepy-crawlies should avoid this one. Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping brought his 1993 work ‘Théâtre du Monde’ to Paris – a controversial and often censored work where live cockroaches, tarantulas, snakes and scorpions are held in an enormous shell-like container. Locusts, worms and other beasts crawl around the room in a large transparent tube.

Shrouded in what looks like thick smoke, these people look like actors playing out an emergency on a film set. But not only are the rather haunting-looking figures members of the public, they are enveloped not in smoke but fog – and it isn’t even real. The stunning photographs were taken this week in Paris, in the Place de la Republique. which has been renamed Fog Square by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya, who has brought her unique work to the city ahead of its famous White Night art festival. Ms. Nakaya has described fog as 'an interactive media' which 'conjures dialogue with nature' and 'reveals the innate' whereas clouds have 'never left the realm of romanticism' She said: 'Scientifically, cloud and fog are the same, but conceptually, there is a big difference. ‘The effect varies considerably depending on the wind, temperature and humidity which all have a huge effect on how dense the fog will be. MS Nakaya has described fog as 'an interactive media' which 'conjures dialogue with nature' and 'reveals the innate' whereas clouds have 'never left the realm of romanticism’. Her lifelong artistic investigation engages the element of water and instills a sense of wonder in everyday weather phenomena.

The German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who once referred to the 9/11 attacks as ‘the greatest work of art imaginable’, is no stranger to controversy – a label that applies equally to his avant-garde fusion of electronic and contemporary classical music. An early adopter of synths, Stockhausen has had an incalculable influence on bands ranging from Kraftwerk to Radiohead. This year’s Nuit Blanche will see a performance of one of his wildest compositions, ‘Helikopter-Streichquartet’, which requires the four members of a string quartet each to perform their part in a different helicopter in full flight! This

Both Bahrainis also discussed with Mr. Florent Lebont, the Festival Coordinator, the different aspects and versions of the previous festivals, giving him an idea about the Bahrain’s celebration of 25 years of Bahrain’s National Theatre inauguration next December. Mr. Lebont expressed his readiness to coordinate with the Bahraini side to fulfill this 12 hours non-stop celebration ceremony.

In fact, Bahrain National Museum will celebrate a significant and exciting milestone in 2014—a quarter century of building communities and bringing people and ideas together through the annual Fine Arts Exhibition ( next December). The year-long celebration will include world-class exhibitions, a French similar to Nuit Blanche gala event, enhanced family activities, community events and educational programs that will ignite the public’s imagination and provide a powerful marketing platform for sponsors. In celebration of its 25th anniversary of inauguration, next December, Bahrain national Museum will live the dream, in coordination with the French Embassy.