Lyon Light Festival Forum 2024
These sessions of “Pecha Kucha” – style speed presentations – will be an opportunity for peer-to-peer sharing and exchange in the field of creative lighting. Hear from light festival organisers, artists, and designers about creative lighting projects.
Winter Blossom
by Darkitects (France)
In our profession, we like to experiment with light and material. Diverting the use of materials is one of our assets. We used dichroic films to experiment how a simple veil can become an oneiric installation, proving that reflections can change our perception of a familiar space. The dichroic film becomes a curious flowerbed beneath a magnified forest canopy in a poetic installation.
On a more profound note, the installation challenges us to think about global warming and its dangers on biodiversity and nature. It is an opportunity to rethink about what we risk losing.
LUX Helsinki, a light art event that makes a difference
by Marjut Kauppinen, Public Lighting Manager, City of Helsinki (Finland)
The City of Helsinki and the foundation organising the yearly light art event LUX Helsinki are starting a new collaborative process in 2025. The results will be seen every year from now, even after the 5-day-light art event, somewhere in the old city centre and in some urban renewal areas.
The objective of this fresh collaboration is to point out the meaning of art, specifically light art in urban environments. Nordic countries can use the darker winter seasons as canvas to positive urban experiences. Lighting and light art play a crucial role in this.
Together, Helsinki and LUX Helsinki can develop a strong future for public light art that makes a difference in residents’ and visitors’ experiences, and memories of the dark seasons in the capital city of Finland.
Lux Domus
by Josep Poblet (Spain)
In this presentation, we explore the role of light, not just as illumination but as a dynamic, almost solid presence that shapes our perceptions.
This essence is the foundation of Lux Domus: an architectural vision where light becomes a material, transforming space into a place of refuge, welcome, and peace.
Lightprints
by Cecilia Ömalm (Sweden)
When I work with light, I use electroluminescent lightwire to form a kind of architectural blueprint that I refer to as lightprints. Through historical and archaeological layers, fictitious walls, doors, facades or ground plans come fourth.
The distinct yet sublime sensation of the thin cyan light seem to almost vibrate in the darkness. The lines allow the beholder to imagine something beyond reality, an infinite place to explore within oneself.
Coral Ghosts
by Philipp Frank, Artist (Germany)
Philipp Frank‘s work explores the profound relationship between and the interconnectedness of all living beings. Through years spent immersed in nature – observing, photographing, and filming – he has developed a practice that translates these experiences into immersive audiovisual installations. Nature itself is the greatest artist, and his goal is to reflect the beauty, complexity, and fragility of natural processes through his art.
Oceans are fragile ecosystems which are under threat from human activity and climate change. The coral reef is particularly vulnerable: such is the message of Coral ghosts. This landscaped installation evokes an ethereal underwater kingdom which is both fragile and depleted.
When night falls, the structure is illuminated by 360° video projections mirroring the vitality of marine ecosystems. Coral ghosts asks spectators to do more than just admire its breathtaking beauty; it alerts us to the fragility of nature which is quietly being eroded away.
Mons en Lumières: A Celebration of Light and Heritage
by Ilenia Borrello, Project Manager, Mons en Lumières (Belgium)
Mons en Lumières, the first light festival in Mons, Belgium, took place for the very first time in January 2024, transforming the city into an inspiring blend of art, heritage, and innovation.
Featuring a curated program of local, national, and international artists, the festival showcases diverse artistic expressions, including participative installations involving citizens, students, and communities.
Each edition is anchored by a thematic focus, highlighted by a guest artist who brings a unique perspective to the narrative. In this presentation, Ilenia Borrello will explore the festival’s origins, its identity, and concept.
The Quartier des spectacles and the renewal of Lumino
by Émilie Chabot, Director of Strategic Development and Programming, Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles (Canada)
Initially recognized as the Redlight District, an underground area of nightlife, the Quartier des spectacles has, over the past 20 years, carved out a prime spot in the heart of Montreal, the French-speaking metropolis of the Americas.
A cultural district housing 80 performance venues and hosting 50 festivals each year, its luminous pathway has evolved from architectural illumination of performance halls to a red floor lighting signature, a nod to its history.
Today, the Quartier des spectacles is at a crossroads and is focusing on the development of a luminous winter program to allow Montrealers and tourists to enjoy their Nordic identity right in the heart of downtown. A brand new edition titled Lumino has been unfolding since November 2024 and will run until March 2025, featuring around 30 artwork installations that will be progressively unveiled throughout the winter, both outdoors and indoors in about ten locations across the city.
Lumino has the potential to ultimately become a showcase for local and international creativity, a platform promoting reciprocity between light festivals and cities worldwide, and a must-visit stop on a distribution and exhibition circuit for artworks in North America.
INTENSCITY & IAE Lyon: reinventing light for a responsible future
by Pierre-Yves Toulot, Co-founder of Intenscity, and Lighting Design & Management students from IAE Lyon University (France) – this is a two part Pecha Kucha
This is the story of a multi-year partnership between the company IntensCity and the Light professional license program at IAE Lyon University. IntensCity has developed an innovative digital lighting platform designed for architectural lighting management using video mapping tools. Their technology provides precise lighting control down to the pixel, offers unlimited lighting variations with a single hardware investment, and ensures efficient energy consumption, making it both versatile and modern.
IntensCity’s possibilities are endless and outline the lighting of tomorrow. For the Fête des Lumières event, IntensCity collaborates with students from the IAE professional program and the Brassart School, allowing them to use the platform to illuminate the Manufacture des Tabacs building. This partnership is mutually beneficial: IntensCity receives valuable user feedback from the students, supporting further development, while the students gain access to 20 years of expertise in lighting and video mapping to create a stunning, cinema-themed illumination of the Manufacture des Tabacs, in Lyon.
Students from IAE Lyon will present the sound and light show “La Manu fait son cinéma”, projected during the Fête des Lumières on the Manufacture des Tabacs building. Four groups of students from IAE Lyon (Lighting Design and Management) and Brassart School (Graphic Design, 3D Animation, and Illustration) participated in this collaborative initiative through four projects entitled: Bollywood, Emotions, Chronologies, and Saul-Bass.
Photo credits
©Darkitects; ©ORDER200, Emilien Guesnard, Mons en Lumières; ©Rafael Vargas; ©Lauri Rotko, City of Helsinki; ©Cecilia Ömalm; ©Philipp Frank – Coral Ghosts; © JALQ Photography