Prague's lighting installations during SIGNAL Festival in October.

Monique Cousineau,  Social Media Manager for Philips Lighting North America takes readers on a tour of Prague’s must see lighting installations in Autumn in this latest lighting blog entry.

In October, Prague one of the world’s most beautiful cities known to enchant visitors with its old-time atmosphere celebrated the third edition of SIGNAL Festival, the premier lighting festival in the Czech Republic. Many streets and public spaces in Prague were energized by the artistry of 21 lighting installations by Czech and international artists. Here is a snippet of six of these projects.

The Dive

The Dive. (Photo courtesy of SIGNAL Festival)

On the rococo façade of the National Gallery in Prague, also known as the Kinský Palace, a lively video mapping projection entitled The Dive animated the Old Town Square. The projection combined abstract shapes with illusions of fluid layers which culminated in a captivating digital storm of sharp and dazzling flashes.

Czech digital artist Petr Krejcik created this installation with the collaboration of musician Ondrej Skala and videomapping artist Ati Sphere.

In Parallel

In Parallel.(Photo courtesy of SIGNAL Festival)

Situated on a riverbank in Prague, In Parallel transported visitors into a futuristic sci-fi landscape. Slovenian artists, Nina Sulin and Natalija R. Crncec created this vibrant and playful artwork composed of geometric shapes interwoven with a fluorescent line reacting to UV light.

Onion Skin

Onion Skin (Photo courtesy Alexander Dobrovodsky & Olivier Ratsi)

Onion Skin, by French artist Olivier Ratsi is all about perspective, time and space. The canvas for this light projection is formed of two walls placed into a right angle and depending on where the viewer stands the point of view will change. Lines, triangles and squares collapse and peel away from the projection evoking the peeling of an onion skin. Music and sound design was produced by Thomas Vaquié.

Horizontal Interference

Horizontal Interference. (Photo courtesy of SIGNAL Festival)

Bringing colors and shapes to a public space, Horizontal Interference was praised for its very poetic qualities. Horizontal Interference by Polish artistic duo Katarzyna Malejka and Joachim Slugocki is set in a natural environment. This installation links the top of trees with streams of light producing a unique and colorful landscape as though light prances from tree to tree reinventing the urban scene.

Magical Garden

Magical Garden. (Photo courtesy of SIGNAL Festival)

Kari Kola, described as the Finnish master of moving light effects, appropriately chose the most romantic setting on the Vltava River to present Magical Garden.  Hidden in the shade of luxurious trees on the island of Strelecky Ostrov, Magical Gardencombined dynamic lighting with bold colors and contemplative music to create a splendid scenic view.

Dancing Cubes

Dancing Cubes.(Photocourtesy of SIGNAL Festival)

At the National Theatre piazetta, the interactive Dancing Cubes installation entices visitors to perform. Professional dancers and willing spectators dance around, walk through and interact with the giant glass cubes. These cubes, are made of glass rods that transmit light programmed by software. The Prague-based duo of Jan Vacek and Martin Smid created this very theatrical light art project.

Easy to understand why SIGNAL Featival has become the most visited cultural event in the country. The fourth edition will take place in Prague from October 13-16, 2016.