Now in its seventh edition, the open-air visual art festival Spotlight has prepared a new series of multimedia experiences in established and premiere locations on Calea Victoriei and at ARCUB—Hanul Gabroveni for the weekend of 11-13 October 2024.
The event that awaits over 100,000 participants again this year, Spotlight Festival, is a project organized by the Capital City Hall through ARCUB—the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Bucharest—together with the Directorate of Culture, Education, Tourism, with the support of MONUMENT for the General Directorate of Landscape Architecture and Public Forum Monuments.
Spotlight Festival is a member of the largest international network of light festivals, the International Light Festivals Organization. Thus, Bucharest is connected to the largest cities in the world that host spectacular new media events in public spaces.
SPOTLIGHT FESTIVAL 2024
This year’s Spotlight edition is also part of Bucharest 565 events, celebrating 565 years since the city was first mentioned. It aims to offer three days of light, colour, and sound shows. Thus, between October 11 and 13, famous buildings in Bucharest come to life through video mapping, iconic places are populated by multimedia installations, and light art projections animate the city’s statues.
PREMIERE AT SPOTLIGHT #8
Between October 11 and 13, the 8th edition of Spotlight – the International Festival of Light, the most significant visual art event organized by the Capital City Hall, through ARCUB – the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Bucharest, brings Calea Victoriei a unique show of light and technology: impressive light art installations and video mapping sessions on emblematic buildings of the city will offer the public a unique immersive experience.
During the three days of the festival, Spotlight 2024 will guide visitors on Calea Victoriei, where essential buildings and public spaces in Bucharest will offer a new media show of lights and projections. The route starts at the National Military Circle.
It continues with projections and installations at the Odeon Theatre, the Palace of Telephones, the Novotel Hotel, the Music Store, Revolution Square, the Central University Library, the National Art Museum of Romania, and George Enescu Square.
Hotel InterContinental Athénée Palace Bucharest marks the end of the Spotlight 2024 route.
International artists come to Bucharest for the first time and present large-scale multimedia installations that will come to life on Calea Victoriei. For the first time in Romania, the versatile artist of French-German origin Julien Menzel presents the Phénix and Echo projects. These interactive works challenge the viewers to become part of the artistic act.
At the same time, the visual artist Émilien Guesnard exhibits the Asklipion installation in Bucharest. This innovative artistic project explores the connection between nature, light and sounds through 120 lamps that house frozen plants.
Present in the Spotlight 2024 line-up, Romanian artists bring to the public’s attention projects that highlight current themes of contemporary society. From installations that address the connection between the human and the divine to the devastating impact of global warming, the light artworks featured in this edition of Spotlight are redefining how we relate to the present significant challenges.
The program of this edition will not miss the Discoballs installation from the Muzica store. This installation will transform the urban space into a meeting place for music lovers and bring more fun to Calea Victoriei through games of lights, shadows, and animated textures.
Spotlight 2024 theme: Bucharest 565. Urban connections, marking over five centuries since the city’s documentary attestation, highlight Bucharest’s distinctive architecture through light installations and projections developed by national and international artists. Spotlight 2024 reconfigures the facades of the city’s historic buildings through spectacular video mapping sessions, illuminates symbolic areas of the city through multisensory installations, and invites viewers to shows where light takes on an unprecedented artistic and architectural dimension.
Spotlight – The International Festival of Light, the most popular new media festival in the Capital, attracts over 100,000 visitors annually and transforms the city into a meeting place for lovers of visual art and technology through multimedia projects at the intersection of art, design and technology. As of 2023, the festival is a member of The International Light Festivals Organization, one of the largest organizations dedicated to light festivals around the globe.
Spotlight Program #8 – Bucharest 565. Urban Connections I October 11-13, 2024
The Spotlight 2024 program starts at 19:00 and ends at 23:00 on each festival day.
1. Controlled Delirium – Tudor Banuș
projection
Location: ARCUB – Gabroveni Inn
Artist: Cultech – The Art Behind Technology
2. Angel Radios
installation
Location: National Military Circle
Artist: Mihai Popescu
3. Urban Mosaic
videomapping
Location: Odeon Theatre
Artist: MotionLab
4. Energy – Power up your Future
videomapping, interactive installation
Location: Palace of Telephones
Artist: Les Ateliers Nomad
5. Sunny Side Up
installation
Location: Novotel Hotel
Artist: Kaustik
6. Disco ball
installation
Location: Music Store
Artist: 360 Revolution
7. asklipion
installation
Location: Revolution Square – Iuliu Maniu Monumental Ensemble
Artist: Émilien Guesnard
8. Silent Prayer
installation
Location: Revolution Square – Renaissance Memorial Monumental Complex
Artist: 360 Revolution
9. Fusion Era: Artistic Dialogues of Old and New
videomapping
Location: Central University Library
Artists: Vali Chincișan and Adistu
10. Echo
installation
Location: National Art Museum of Romania
Artist: Julien Menzel
11. Phoenix
installation
Location: George Enescu Square
Artist: Julien Menzel
12. Urban Pulse: The Flow of the City
videomapping
Location: Hotel InterContinental Athénée Palace Bucharest
Artist: Mindscape Studio
