Newsroom Art and Culture

The 2026 edition of the LUCI Cities & Lighting Summit in Oulu gathered over 200 delegates from 26 countries, including representatives from 33 cities and 57 other organisations and institutions, confirming the Summit as the flagship event for the global urban lighting community.

At dusk, the GRASSI Museum in Leipzig reveals a new identity. Light in Motion, a permanent installation by DOPPELDENK, animates its window façades with subtle, evolving light patterns, reactivating the museum’s architecture and its relationship to the city after dark.

At a moment when many cities are facing increasing financial pressure, competing priorities, and rising demands on public budgets, cultural events — even highly successful ones — are becoming fragile. Lumiere Durham’s final edition reminds us that light festivals cannot be taken for granted. They need to be understood, valued, and defended for what they truly bring to cities.

The Open Call for Light Artists is now open for the City of Light Festival 2026 – Sept 25 to Oct 3 2026 in Jyväskylä, Finland. The application period is Jan 8th – Feb 15th, 2026.

The EU-funded Art of Darkness project has just launched an open call for cities (and private developers supported by a municipality) to join in and become Follower and Replicator cities, to help adapt and expand the project’s approach across Europe. Deadline for applications: 30 January 2026 (midnight CET)

This November, GLOW Eindhoven, a long-standing member of LUCI, marked a remarkable milestone: 20 years of transforming the Dutch city through light art. This anniversary also comes as Ronald Ramakers steps down after a decade as director. We extend our heartfelt thanks for his leadership, dedication, and his collaborative spirit.

LUCI took part in the Art of Darkness project’s third General Assembly, held in Tallinn, Estonia. The meeting gathered all consortium partners for a key moment in the project’s progression from strategic groundwork to the upcoming pilot implementations across five European cities.

The Mapsion 2025 international video mapping competition concluded in Jyväskylä, Finland, with Japanese artist Katsuhiko Kajitani (Kajiken) taking first place for his piece Dance of Northern Lights.

Participate in the Art of Darkness project and help your city evolve by sharing your experiences of darkness across Bologna, Copenhagen, Montpellier, Oulu, and Tallinn.

The Brussels-Capital Region has launched its official call for artistic proposals for the next edition of Bright Festival, taking place in February 2026. This internationally recognised light art festival invites artists, lighting designers, architects and creatives working with light to submit site-specific, innovative, or engaging installations for the public space.