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Nuit Blanche is an annual cultural event launched by the City of Paris in 2002. For one entire night, venues that are usually closed—including museums, monuments, and unusual spaces—host works of art created specifically for them, free of charge.
It is one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the capital.
For the 2026 edition, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux decided to open the Chapelle Expiatoire. This historic monument in the 8th arrondissement was built between 1816 and 1826 on the site where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were temporarily buried before being transferred to the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Millions of Parisians walk past it every week without ever stepping inside.
The CMN entrusted Studio Artera with producing the event and selecting the artist. Together, we designed Threshold by Emilio Ferro: a light and sound installation created specifically for the Chapelle Expiatoire, for what it is and for what it has held for two centuries.
"Threshold " plays on the concept of crossing a threshold.
A massive beam of white light cuts across the nave of the crypt up to the vaulted ceiling, accompanied by a soundscape composed of magnetic field frequencies. These invisible waves, which pass through stone just as they pass through bodies, become, for one night, something we can truly perceive.
Emilio Ferro, born in Italy in 1988, is one of the most renowned contemporary artists in the field of monumental light installations. In 2022, he was the first artist in the world to present a light installation at the foot of the Pyramids of Giza. In 2024, After Pangea resonated at the site of the Library of Alexandria. His work exists at the boundary between the visible and the imperceptible, somewhere between mysticism and science.
For Threshold, Ferro worked closely with Studio Artera and the CMN, adapting his artistic approach to the constraints and unique character of a site designated as a Historic Monument. The result drew more than 1, 000 visitors —admitted free of charge—between 7 p.m. and midnight during Nuit Blanche 2026.
