Vilnius Will Open Interstellar Wormhole Inside City — Light Festival Plans to Relocate Visitors to Space
The sixth annual Vilnius Light Festival comes back to the Lithuanian capital with new light artistry solutions. Creators from Lithuania, France, Poland, the UK, and the Netherlands will display their installations and welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors to discover new urban spaces within the city.
January 15, 2024. The tradition to brighten up the post-holiday slump in January is going strong in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The sixth annual Vilnius Light Festival is returning to the streets, courtyards, and alleys of the Old Town on January 25-28. Light artists from all over the world will be displaying their illumination projects while the festival’s visitors will be invited to become part of interactive installations.
One of the most fascinating light art projects that has set the futuristic theme for this year’s festival will be a light projection Cosmos Vilnius by Rimas Sakalauskas, a promising multimedia artist based in Lithuania. The installation depicts an interstellar wormhole that will open up in one of the courtyards and will transport the visitors to an alternative Vilnius. Set up in the mockumentary style, the project explores the idea of relocating Vilnius to a moon — and invites the visitors to join the adventure.
Around 200K visitors come to the festival every year. This January the program is comprised of two parts: the main program with curator-selected installations and additional objects with voluntary initiatives by culture, arts, science, education, and business organizations. 20 light art installations by artists from Lithuania, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands will be displayed all over Vilnius.
The city’s Old Town will once again welcome light art enthusiasts and welcome them to visit yet-undiscovered spaces like Arts Printing House, a contemporary arts center set up in a 16th-century printing house. The venue will exhibit two light art installations. One of the creations, Flux, by Polish artist Ksawery Komputery will represent a virtual communication between people and reveal hidden algorithms of virtual meetings through 4,800 meters of light-emitting diode strings and 144,000 pixels that operate 100 times per second.
“Light festival is a unique expression of cultural diversity. It represents ideas, exceptional projects, and art innovations by global artists. At the same time, the festival encourages international exchange of culture and dialogue,” Paulius Jurgutis, director of Vilnius Cultural Center which initiates the festival.
An artist duo Illumaphonium from the UK will exhibit their light art project Continuum which redefines the urban environment. The installation becomes a mysterious space beckoning the visitors to get lost between geometric mirrors and light and sound monoliths.
Every year Vilnius Light Festival celebrates the city’s birthday on January 25th. Since 2019 the event has highlighted the city’s architecture, streets, alleys, and courtyards with innovative light art installations. 91 light art projects from 18 countries have been exhibited in Vilnius over the last five years. The festival’s app with routes and installation information is available on Google Play and App Store.