LIGHTING GUERRILLA 2023
17th international festival of light
SPACE
22th May−17th June 2023
Ljubljana
This year’s program of the International Lighting Guerrilla Festival, which takes place in springtime in Ljubljana for the 17th year in a row, consists of two dozen and a half projects. The golden thread of Lighting Guerrilla this time focuses on the question of space and its thematization in the context of contemporary visual, intermedia and performative arts. Theoretically speaking, space represents an immaterial and unlimited given, the boundless framework of physical world, where the totality of reality unfolds on the line of time. But the participating artists do not focus solely on the multifaceted issue of physical space in their projects: they also expand and deepen their understanding by exploring entities of immaterial space – the virtual world and human psyche are by all means relevant derivatives of the given topic, which can convey the complex experience of modern life. When contemporary humans in this part of the world look at the space around themselves, they can easily notice numerous processes in it that are rapidly altering and often degrading it: a considerable number of projects presented at the festival thematize increasingly urgent environmental changes or undertake a critical reflection on the (in)accessibility of space – either in terms of control or gentrification, which is quickly changing the physical, cultural and social fabric of our cities. Space has always been a scene and, simultaneously, object of conflict, of any kind of human drama; its totality and numerous implications it brings define and determine the human, who, since ancient times, has looked with fear and longing also into inaccessible and unimaginable spaces beyond our own. Of course, the space we inhabit can also easily inspire us; the exploration of its poetics and beauty reveals secrets that can ease our steps into the uncertain future that lies before us …
Numerous installations, projections and multimedia installations – including two stage projects that will be on featured at the Dance Theatre Ljubljana – comprise the varied program of this year’s festival, which is enriched with several guided tours and ends on 17 June, the Summer Museum Night. This time, too, we executed a series of workshops, either for invited artists or for students from Ljubljana schools, academies and faculties, who, under the supervision of excellent teachers and artists, participated in the educational programs of the Lighting Guerrilla Laboratory, where this year, for the first time, we also collaborate with students from the academy in Polish Wroclaw. Many locations around the wider city centre – with the established festival epicentre in the Match gallery, of course – shall, with the help of Lighting Guerrilla, thus again come to life in a new spirit: The Lighting Guerrilla Festival, with the thematization of space, once again interferes into the city’s fabric, changing it into the space of modern art for almost a month. With the project of the Australian artist Michael Candy, which is also related to this year’s theme, the festival will exceptionally extend into autumn, when, in addition to the author’s installation, a series of workshops under his supervision will take place in Ljubljana.
Cover photo: Sophie Guyot: The Meaning of Meaning