LUCI present at Bright Brussels

Bright Sessions launching

The Bright Brussels Light Festival, with its light installations and now the addition of the Bright Sessions, is not just a visual spectacle but also a hub for learning and networking. This event is a must-visit for those in Brussels, offering a chance to engage with leading figures in the field and expand one’s understanding of the dynamic world of lighting design.

The festival continues to welcome enthusiasts and invites anyone in Brussels from February 15th to 18th, to join in on these insightful talks and networking opportunities.

For more information, visit Bright Festival Bright Sessions and Bright Festival.

Beacon of Hope in Leopold Park, Brussels

Co-produced by the light festivals of Eindhoven, Lyon and Jysväskylä and created with the secondary school students of Emile Jacqmain’s highschool in Brussels, Beacon of Hope is a participatory, multidisciplinary European project that has already toured a number of European light festivals. Conceived by Craig Morrison (UK), the aim is to create a participatory project in which each community can appropriate the installation according to its own culture and practices. This means that the work adapts to the inhabitants of the country where it is exhibited. 

For Bright Festival 2024 edition, it was Lycée Jacqmain secondary school’s pupils who were asked to take part and make the work their own. Twenty-seven students, symbolising the 27 member states of the European Union, recorded poems in the 24 European languages in the run-up to the festival. These poems will become a kind of soundtrack for the festival, surrounded by the flags of the 27 member countries.

Beacon of Hope has already taken part in several European light festivals. In each case, the work was designed for and by local communities, using sustainably sourced materials and local artists and designers. The main structural material, wood, encourages creativity by being a readily available resource that requires much less energy to process than other materials. The central structure is linked by a woven fabric, underlining the power of art and culture to create dialogue.

Light festivals unite for innovation and sustainability

In the ever-growing landscape of light festivals around the world, the challenge of remaining distinctive while pushing the boundaries of light art and embracing sustainable development has become paramount.

We, the LUCI network, and more specifically through our Light Festival Working Group, are at the forefront of these issues. The concept of a co-creation project for light art took shape as a result of productive exchanges between advanced light festivals. Lead artist Craig Morrison (UK) works closely with local teams ahead of each festival, with LUCI documenting the process and sharing best practices. The result of this international dialogue is a new, reinvented Beacon of Hope for every event – an innovative exploration of how cities can work together to create light art projects that are adapted to local contexts, while remaining sustainable and adaptable in partner cities.

Cities Beacon of Hope has visited so far

> 29 September – 9 October 2022 – City of Light, Jyväskylä, Finland
> 12-19 November 2022 – GLOW, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
> 8-11 December 2022 – Fête des Lumières, Lyon, France
> 9 October 2023 – Festival of Lights, Leipzig, Germany
> 11-18 November 2023 – GLOW, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
> 15-18 February 2024 – Bright Festival, Brussels, Belgium

©Bright Brussels; ©Tim van Etten – 2022 GLOW