Today, November 13th at the Villa Suso Palace in Vitoria, the meeting “Festivals: the art of light shared”, organized by the Association of Lighting Authors, took place.
This day of meeting and reflection on the art of light in a public context (mostly urban) such as festivals, has been a perfect and necessary complement to the 2nd edition of Umbra Light Festival that is taking place this weekend in the capital of Alava.
In this symposium, moderated by Ezequiel Nobili, have participated different professionals with outstanding experience in the organization and curatorship of events and international festivals focused on the art of light. Aleksandra Stratimirovic (Skopje Light Art District), Delia Picirilli (Luz Madrid Festival), Ilkka Paloniemi (Lux Helsinki) and Bettina Pelz (Lichtstromfestival in Ingolstadt) have reflected on the history, the present and the future of Light Art in Light Festivals, sharing their experiences and transmitting different perspectives regarding this kind of initiatives. All of them have remarked the multiple benefits that festivals bring to the cities where they are organized.
Beyond the public success they represent (which is undoubtedly remarkable), emphasis has been placed on other aspects such as their ability to promote moments of encounter and celebration around light and their suitability when it comes to promoting the rediscovery of urban spaces through new ways of looking at them. A question that has also generated consensus has been the importance of these events in democratizing the approach of citizens to the world of culture and art.
However, for the speakers, it is necessary that the encounter with the works and their experience by the public is complemented with a careful mediation that provides context and information about these pieces and their creators to create a greater interest and knowledge in the field of “light art”.
And, in fact, this mediating work has been perfectly reflected, also, in the second session of this same meeting. In it, Miquel Clot, Rebeca Sánchez Pastor, Emilio Valenzuela, Coaner Codina, Suso 33 and Tao Gutiérrez (creators of three of the pieces exhibited in this 2nd edition of Umbra Light Festival) have shared with the attendees their different creative processes and the development and staging of the works that during this weekend inhabit the streets of Vitoria.
In short, if one of the initial questions of this meeting was to reflect on the continuity that can be expected from light art festivals; through the different interventions carried out today, it has become clear that, if they are organized with criteria and quality, we can predict a great future for them.
– Alicia Serrano Vidal
