Opal sleeping. Photo courtesy the artist.

Babies Sleep Tonight

Before children, we took night for granted: it was a time to be out, in bars with friends, riding home late, exploring the city. Now night is a different time, striving for sleep. The promise of regaining a nightlife of our own lies somewhere in the future.

Presented by two fathers with babies, Babies Sleep Tonight projects the invisible sleeping babies of the city into the midst of the energy and excitement of an all-night festival. It is intended as a reminder, a meditation, an acknowledgment of the babies who sleep while we are awake and the parents who care for them. Parents experience the deep night that Northern Spark illuminates for months and years, waking up at all hours with their babies, rocking them while gazing at the empty street. Babies Sleep Tonight is meant to connect two different experiences of night and provide a glimpse into the sweetness of sleep.