Gigantic spiders made of light and Van Gogh’s Starry Night
As of 29 November, thirty artworks will light up the city center of Amsterdam for the seventh year in a row. For this years’ edition of Amsterdam Light Festival artists, designers and architects from sixteen different countries share their interpretation of the central theme ‘The Medium is the Message’. All participating artworks will be lit simultaneously during the 53-day-long festival. There will be one exhibition – in the historical center of Amsterdam – which can be experienced in different ways: by boat, by bike or on foot. This year, for the very first time, visitors can vote for their favourite light artwork. The Public Award will be presented to the artist of the winning artwork in the last weekend of the festival. Amsterdam Light Festival can be enjoyed until 20 January 2019.

Light as a medium and remarkable stories about Amsterdam
From hundreds of submitted concepts the festival jury selected thirty artworks. This years’ exhibition revolves around the theme ‘The Medium is the Message‘, the famous statement by the Canadian scientist and philosopher Marshall McLuhan. The idea behind his statement was simple: the way we send a message is at least as important as the message itself. The participating artists focused on questions such as: what role does light play as a medium or a message? And how can light create spaces that would otherwise have remained invisible? The city of Amsterdam as a medium for telling stories is also a central part of this edition. On behalf of the festival, art historian Koen Kleijn went in search of remarkable stories about the city and from October onward they will be released as a ten-part series on the festival website. In his stories Kleijn identifies the connection between the city and the central theme.

About Amsterdam Light Festival
Every year, innovative and high-end artworks by (inter)national artists, designers and architects light up the city center of Amsterdam during Amsterdam Light Festival. The seventh edition takes place from 29 November 2018 until 20 January 2019. The thirty participating light artworks are on daily between 5pm and 11pm. The exhibition can be experienced by boat, by bike or on foot. Various canal companies offer boat tours along the light artworks, such as founding partner Canal Tours Amsterdam – part of Stromma Nederland and closely involved with Amsterdam Light Festival since the beginning.  For this edition the artists were challenged to work within the theme ‘The Medium is the Message’. www.amsterdamlightfestival.com.

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