Lighting Guerrilla: Illuminating Ljubljana in May and June
Every year in late spring, Ljubljana transforms into a luminous canvas as the Lighting Guerrilla festival casts its glow over the city. This unique celebration of light art has been brightening the capital’s streets since 2007 and is a testament to the creativity and ingenuity of local and international artists. The festival’s history is rich with innovation, and each year explores new themes, bringing fresh perspectives to the interplay between light and urban space. The festival’s mission is to highlight the city as a living organism, a space of creativity that excites the imagination and dictates a dynamic and exploratory rhythm of life.The Lighting Guerrilla Festival began as a local initiative aimed at utilising light to alter the perception of public spaces and engage the community in a dialogue about art and urban living. Over the years, it has grown in scope and reputation, attracting international artists and audiences. The festival is organised by Strip Core, a cultural production group that focusses on contemporary art practices and has consistently provided a platform for experimental and cutting-edge light installations.
The theme for 2024, the 18th edition of Lighting Guerrilla is “Transformations” - “the selected works thematise and reflect on various aspects of changes and transformations that we witness in our environment or in our lives.
This year’s works of art, especially the site-specific placements in the public space, which predominate at the festival, also cause the transformation of the environment itself, thus transforming it into spaces of boundless imagination and aesthetic contemplation. In drawing up the programme of this year’s festival, we were interested in the projects that, by means of original artistic language, highlight various aspects of transformations, both at the level of form itself as well as in the context of the space or at the level of the viewer’s perception.”
This year's festival will feature over 20 projects, scattered across various iconic and lesser-known locations in Ljubljana, plus several exhibitions in The Match Gallery. Each installation is carefully placed to create a journey of light that encourages exploration and discovery.
The Lighting Guerrilla is not just about passive observation; it is designed to be interactive and engaging. Many installations encourage public participation, allowing visitors to manipulate light and colour or to become part of the art itself. Workshops and guided tours will also be available, providing deeper insights into the works on display and the broader themes they address.
The Lighting Guerrilla yearly cooperates with numerous public and private institutions and organisations. Within the festival, we have also developed a special programme named Lighting Guerrilla Laboratory, aimed to carry out workshops and new art productions with local faculties and secondary schools. In addition to the presentation of projects from international artists we aim to support development and production of new art projects by local artists, also enabling presentations abroad through the network of our partner festivals.
This year’s festival runs from May 24 - June 22, you can view the full programme here.
Text and images from www.mgml.si and www.svetlobnagverila.net
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