i Light Singapore 2023 to expand to South Beach and Millenia Walk this June
Asia’s leading sustainable light festival returns with 6 installations and 1 multi-sensorial light programme, more to be announced
SINGAPORE — Asia’s leading sustainable light festival i Light Singapore is set to return this June with two new locations: South Beach and Millenia Walk.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said in a media release on Thursday (27 April) that this year's edition will go by the theme of "A New Wave", with blue as its anchor colour.
Blue was selected to represent oceans and rivers and its association with emotions like calmness and serenity.
Local students and Malaysian artist to be featured at new locations
A range of works from local artists, as well as acclaimed international ones from America, Australia and Malaysia, will be featured across six installations and one multi-sensorial light programme in the festival's first announcement.
South Beach will host two student artworks: Bleached by Nanyang Technological University’s School of Art, Design and Media students, and Show III by students from James Cook University and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.
Millenia Walk will feature an artwork by Malaysian artist Jun Ong which will transform according to natural daylight and artificial lighting at night.
Other artworks include Block Party, an interactive installation by local collective Plug & Play showcasing Singapore's public housing blocks, and Trumpet Flowers by Sydney-based art collective, Amigo & Amigo.
At Trumpet Flowers, visitors will be surrounded by towering flower sculptures ranging from two to six metres tall and curate their experience by composing a unique sound and light show from interactive keys.
Use of AI technology
Images of glaciers around the world will be turned into an Artificial Intelligence-based large-scale projection on the façade of the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands.
Titled Glacier Dreams, the installation will showcase processed images that underwent machine learning algorithms and later transformed into multi-sensory narratives by renowned Turkish-American media artist Refik Anadol.
The installation was created in effort to raise awareness of rising sea levels and climate change.
A brand new immersive light experience Lightwave: Turning the Tide by Alibaba Cloud will also be available at The Promontory at Marina Bay.
Visitors will be transported to a virtual underwater world in the future where rising sea levels have submerged humans.
The multi-sensorial light experiences will be presented in three chapters.
The light art installations and interactive programmes are curated in the hopes for visitors to reflect on the environment and encourage contribution to a more sustainable future.
Two green pledges extended to the public and schools for the first time
In partnership with susGain, a local social enterprise championing sustainability, two initiatives will be set up for the public to pledge their commitment to eco-conscious practices.
The Switch Off, Turn Up (SOTU) pledge, which calls for all to switch off non-essential lightings and turn up air-conditioning temperatures, will be returning once again since its inception in 2010.
The second pledge, Be a Zero Hero, encourages all to adopt zero waste habits such as reducing usage of single-use items.
For each pledge submitted in the first 5,000 pledges, All Clear - a sustainability enterprise which does offshore and ocean clean-ups - will remove 100 grams of waste from local waterways.
Up to 500kg of waste will be removed as an outcome of the pledge.
These pledges will available to the public and schools with attractive prizes to be won.
“We look forward to enlivening Marina Bay once again with the return of i Light Singapore. This year, visitors can immerse themselves in a brand-new line-up of creative artworks," said URA's chief executive officer, Mr Lim Eng Hwee.
"I encourage everyone to take a pause to contemplate our relationship with the environment. Through their experiences with the delightful artworks and programmes, we hope that visitors can be inspired to embrace sustainability as part and parcel of our everyday lives.”
This is also the second year DBS Bank has partnered up with the festival as a presenting sponsor.
i Light Singapore 2023 will be held from 1 to 25 June, from 7.30pm to 11.00pm daily with extended hours to 12.00am on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is free for all installations except for Lightwave: Turning the Tide which is priced at $5.
The full festival line-up will be announced next month. More information can be found on i Light Singapore's website.
