i Light Marina Bay light art festival will return with a special i Light Singapore - Bicentennial Edition from 28 January to 24 February 2019 with sustainable light art installations curated to the theme “Bridges of Time”.
An anchor event to kick-start the Singapore Bicentennial commemoration, i Light Singapore - Bicentennial Edition invites artists and festival-goers to reflect on Singapore’s history and growth, as well as our connection with the world in the last 700 years, through the sustainable light art installations. Festival-goers can also look forward to a larger Festival in terms of geographical footprint as it expands beyond Marina Bay to include the Civic District, Singapore River, and Raffles Terrace at Fort Canning.
Mr Lim Eng Hwee, Chief Executive Officer of Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) which organises i Light Singapore - Bicentennial Edition, said: “As one of the country’s signature events, the Festival has been a platform that bridges people, culture, and opportunity through art and sustainability since its inception. This special bicentennial edition will see an intensified effort to bring communities together, as a reflection of how the historic Civic District and Singapore River first drew people from different parts of the world here centuries ago. With the larger Festival footprint this edition, visitors can look forward to a whole new experience as the core of our city gets illuminated with sustainable light art installations.”
Largest response to the call for artworks
i Light Singapore - Bicentennial Edition has received the largest response ever to the call for artwork proposals. In just two months, there were 249 submissions from 36 countries, including Singapore.
City Gazing Singapore by VOUW - Mingus Vogel and Justus Bruns, The Netherlands, 2019
One of the international light art installations to be featured at the upcoming Festival is “City Gazing Singapore” by artists Mingus Vogel and Justus Bruns from Dutch design collective VOUW, who are participating for the first time. For this bicentennial edition, the artists have specially designed the installation to resemble the map of Singapore. To be anchored at The Lawn@Marina Bay, this dynamic artwork will have lights programmed to show how the city has grown over time. By hanging the installation over an open space, the artists hope to bring people from all walks of life beneath the artwork and turn their gaze upwards into the sky to view the illuminated outlines of our country.
Public invited to co-create local artwork “The Rainbow Connection”
The Festival will welcome back Singaporean industrial designer Yun, who enthralled visitors with her light art installation “MoonFlower” at i Light Marina Bay 2017. Yun was also invited to present her artwork at Scottsdale Canal Convergence 2017 (USA) and Bella Skyway 2017 (Poland) as part of a collaboration between i Light Marina Bay and overseas light art festivals.
The Rainbow Connection by Yun, Singapore, 2019
Her new work for the bicentennial edition, titled “The Rainbow Connection”, will feature islands of solar light modules in upcycled PET containers suspended in the air, which come alive as they sway in the wind. The use of solar powered lighting and upcycled materials for the artwork will help to remind visitors about the importance of sustainable development.
Designed to be co-created with the community, the light art installation will see members of the public and not-for-profit organisations1 join the artist at 12 pre-Festival workshops around Singapore to design 800 used cookie containers. The public is welcome to sign up for any of the three upcoming community workshops and contribute towards this sustainability cause by being part of the Festival. [Refer to Annex A [PDF, 100kb] for more information]
"I am happy to be part of the Festival again, especially in engaging with the community in the creation of the art piece. Art has a powerful way of bringing people together to participate, enjoy and take pride in being part of the sustainability cause," said Yun.
Strong participation by student community in the inaugural i Light Student Award
As a platform for our young talents to realise their ideas towards sustainability and present their creations to the public, the Festival has regularly featured artworks by students. To further nurture and connect young artists with established ones from Singapore and the world through art and sustainability, the Festival has launched the inaugural i Light Student Award this year. This provides opportunities for local and international tertiary students to come together in this sustainability cause, and present their very own sustainable light art installations at the Festival. The Festival received 48 submissions involving 115 students from nine countries including Singapore. Five student artworks – three winning and two merit entries – will be showcased at i Light Singapore - Bicentennial Edition.
More details on the line-up of the artworks at the Festival will be announced at a later date.
i Light Singapore – Bicentennial Edition will be held from 28 January to 24 February 2019, 7.30pm to 11pm daily with extended hours to 12am on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission to the Festival is free. Visit www.ilightsingapore.sg for more information.
1 The not-for-profit organisations include Pacific Activity Centre, Bold at Work, NTUC Health, Yishun Health, Woodlands Health.