Instagram and National Arts Centre collaborate to celebrate #Empty spaces

Toured the NAC for #EmptyNAC #Roadto2017 today. First of several shots to come of this amazing building. #CNAvide #routevers2017

A photo posted by Jason Fournier (@jasonfournier) on Nov 18, 2015 at 7:16am PST

 Instagram and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa hosted the first official Canadian #Empty event – inviting some of the capital’s best Instagrammers to capture beautiful snapshots and video of the space before it opened to the public. The new Minister of Heritage, Mélanie Joly, was on hand to welcome attendees.

Millions of people around the world use Instagram every day to highlight local arts and culture. As part of the Road to 2017 – Canada’s 150^th anniversary – Instagram will be collaborating with centennial institutions across the country on something called #Empty events. The goal of these events is to bring people together and celebrate the beauty of Canada through the lenses of art, culture and photography.

The #Empty trend was started in 2013 by American Instagrammer Dave Krugman at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. The idea is to give Instagrammers a rare opportunity to experience a cultural institution when it’s empty, either before or after-hours.