RE.LIGHT – THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT ART FESTIVAL.

With the RE.LIGHT International Light Art Festival, Regensburg will become a canvas for international light art for the first time in March 2024. From March 14 to 24, 2024, Regensburg will become a luminous meeting place. The colorful works of light art by 15 national and international light artists can be discovered on a tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Impressive light projections, interactive light installations and immersive light and video shows will illuminate 13 locations.

RE.LIGHT creates magical city moments

For ten days in March, works of light art will illuminate the city every day from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. – sometimes reverently still and warm, sometimes pulsating and moving. The inspiring complexity of Regensburg is emphasized once again by the light art: Through the festival, you come across interesting places that you might otherwise simply pass by, such as a house façade, a fountain or a medieval tower.

Thon-Dittmer-Palais, COLLECTIF SCALE “FLUX”, Photo: RegensburgNow

15 works of art show light art

The first edition of RE.LIGHT presents 15 renowned artists and artist collectives from Germany and abroad. They come to Regensburg from all over Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, Switzerland, Denmark and Korea. Many of the artists work together in collectives and larger studios. “RE.LIGHT aims to present artists from different artistic fields whose work encompasses various genres such as animation, design, painting, architecture, sound and performative arts. In Regensburg, we are presenting their artworks in which they use light as the primary medium,” says Nika Perne. As artistic director of the festival, the Slovenian is responsible for the program design. Some artistic works were developed especially for the RE.LIGHT Festival and tailored entirely to the venues in Regensburg. The Cologne-based artist duo Hartung│Trenz will present their new work “LINES” on the façade of the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte. Their exploration of the line seems predestined for a work on the façade of the museum – with its rhythmic, vertical texture. Julia Shamsheieva’s work “Forever and ever” uses the medium of light on Neupfarrplatz to make a plea for our connection with the elements of fire, water, air and earth, which have been interwoven in the complicated web of existence for billions of years. Regensburg artist Clemens Rudolph in turn brings the façade of the Regensburg building at Ludwigstrasse 6 to life. The projection developed for RE.LIGHT is a play on gestures, perception and artificial aesthetics. One work was created in collaboration with the local community. For “The Stardust Memory Project”, Regensburg residents were invited to show their family albums, which contain traces of people who have disappeared forever. Five images, graphically redesigned by Swiss artist Sophie Guyot, will be projected in Kapellengasse during the festival – accompanied by texts by Regensburg writer Agnes Gerstenberg. The project has been and is being carried out in various cities around the world, and Regensburg is the first European light art festival to host it. In addition to the completely newly developed works of art, there are also works that have been adapted specifically for Regensburg and its special venues. The Italian artist Alessandro Lupi, the Korean Jeongmoon Choi and the Spanish collaboration between Xavi Bové Studio and Onionlab have dealt specifically with the Regensburg locations. The work of the Danish collective Båll&Brand together with Studi Tokyo Blue on the Stone Bridge was selected in a competition in the run-up to the festival.

Minoritenkirche, QUIET ENSEMBLE “SOLAR DUST” Photo: RegensburgNow

The artists at a glance

01 │ RADAR 360º (PT) 02 │ Antrilope – Clemens Rudolph (DE) 03 │ Collectif Scale (FR) 04 │ Alessandro Lupi (IT) 05 │ Jeongmoon Choi (KR) 06 │ Båll & Brand, Tokyo Blue (DK) 07 │ Philipp Artus (DE) 08 │ Hartung | Trenz (DE) 09 │ Quiet Ensemble (IT) 10 │ Die Bildmaschine (DE) 11 │ Vanessa Hafenbrädl (DE) 12 │ Matthias Franz, Manuel Schiller, Stelter Henrik (DE) 13 │ Sophie Guyot (CH) 14 │ Julia Shamsheieva (UA) 15 │ Onionlab and Xavi Bové Studio (ES) Young positions at M26 – the “Bavarian Hub” In the interim use project M26 at Maximilianstraße 26, young regional artists present their work to a large audience and at the same time take the opportunity to discuss it with an international team of curators invited via the global network of the International Light Festivals Organization ILO. The collective Die Bildmaschine is showing the interactive installation “(Your) Wave of Light”. With the help of a tablet, facial expressions and gestures are transferred to the projection, and the projection can be controlled by moving different parts of the body and face. Vanessa Hafenbrädl philosophizes about water, waterways and climate change with her interdisciplinary work “YOUR SCAPES – REGINA”, consisting of a video projection and a hand-blown mirror glass cylinder. The installation by Nuremberg artists Matthias Franz, Manuel Schiller and Stelter Henrik is based on 3D scans of various locations in Regensburg. Modified field recordings of these locations accompany the visual data and merge into an audiovisual composition. The M26 will also be the festival headquarters for RE.LIGHT from March 14. Here you can get all festival information and the combined ticket for the two shows in the Minoritenkirche and the Dreieinigkeitskirche.

13 venues take you on a tour of the city

13 venues are spread throughout the city: in places of modern architecture, such as the House of Bavarian History; at important documents and sights, such as the Stone Bridge, in the Trinity Church and the Minorite Church; and against the backdrop of the medieval city, in squares, barns and courtyards. A guidance system leads festival visitors through the city.

The RE.LIGHT venues at a glance:

01 │ Bismarckplatz 02 │ Ludwigstraße 6 03 │ Thon-Dittmer-Palais, inner courtyard 04 │ Fountain of Life, Kohlenmarkt 05 │ Salzstadel, World Heritage Visitor Center 06 │ Steinerne Brücke 07 │ Andreasstadel 08 │ Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte 09 │ Minoritenkirche (can be seen with a combined ticket) 10, 11, 12 │ M26, Maximilianstraße 26 13 │ Kapellengasse 14 │ Neupfarrplatz 15 │ Dreieinigkeitskirche (can be seen with a combined ticket)

There are light shows to experience at three stations, for which you should plan more time during your visit. The site-specific performance by Portuguese company RADAR 360° celebrates the “Ball of Lamps” at Bismarckplatz. The personified lights breathe, dance, interact and react. The installation “Solar Dust” by the Italian studio Quiet Ensemble casts a spell over the Minorite Church with its shimmering magic and envelops viewers in an ethereal experience. Glowing stars move in the air in a three-dimensional, cloud-like structure that floats above the room. Another unique experience is the immersive show “Transfiguració”, which transforms the interior of the Trinity Church and involves the audience in a collective experience with synchronized lights. The show by Spaniards Onionlab & Xavi Bové Studio combines architecture, music and emotions and leads through introspection, exploration and transfiguration. A combined ticket for 12 euros is available for the two shows in the Minoritenkirche and in the Dreieinigkeitskirche – in advance at www.relight-regensburg.de and during the festival also at the festival center M26. At all other locations, the light artworks can be viewed free of charge on all festival days.

Neupfarrplatz, JULIA SHAMSHEIEVA “FOREVER AND EVER” Photo: RegensburgNow

RE.LIGHT presents the different varieties of light art

Light – both natural and artificial – has long been a source of inspiration and fascination. Over the last two centuries, light art has found diverse forms of expression and only recently has it increasingly moved into public spaces, where it is shown in dialog with architectural landmarks, more intimate places and, above all, with the public. Light artists experiment with space, technology, light sources, surroundings and people. Contemporary light art is incredibly diverse – playing with light offers almost endless possibilities. Nika Perne, the artistic director: “The artworks selected for the first edition of the festival can be experienced in a variety of ways: They are evidence of powerful storytelling, they are visually attractive, they convey messages on highly relevant topics such as sustainability, memory and nature conservation and offer an insight into contemporary creativity and new technologies. An important factor for me is the sensitivity to find the best possible location for each artwork – in terms of curatorial decisions, but also in terms of production, dialog with the environment or the experience for the audience. What makes each festival unique and special is not least the setting of the city. It is art in public space that always reacts to its surroundings and is always shown in different places, so that it is perceived differently each time. By ‘appropriating’ places that people pass by every day or that they visit for specific purposes, we enable the audience to see these places in a completely different light.”

All information about the festival at www.relight-regensburg.de

Until next time, when we go on another voyage of discovery through Regensburg and the surrounding area.

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