#HTE

8th Annual Light Festival Illuminates Amsterdam with Glowing Sculptural Installations

“Butterfly Effect” by Masamichi Shimada. All photographs, unless noted, © Janus van den Eijnden

This year’s Amsterdam Light Festival, running November 28, 2019 to January 19, 2020, lights up the Scandinavian city with illuminated art installations. The festival, now in its eighth year, attracts tourists and engages locals at a time when the city is cloaked in darkness for about sixteen hours each day. Visitors to the Light Festival use a phone app to guide themselves through Amsterdam’s city center, perusing twenty light works by artists from around the world. This year’s show theme was “DISRUPT!” and artists reflected the concept in pieces that ruminate on climate change, national history, technology, and more. See some of our favorites here, by Masamichi Shimada, UxU Studio,  Sergey Kim and others. You can explore the full line-up and programming on the Amsterdam Light Festival website.

“Butterfly Effect” by Masamichi Shimada

“Neighborhood” by Sergey Kim

“Neighborhood” by Sergey Kim. Photograph courtesy of the artist

“Nacht Tekening” by Krijn de Koning 

“Big Bang” by UxU Studio

“Big Bang” by UxU Studio

“Order Disorder” by Lambert Kamps

“Order Disorder” by Lambert Kamps

“Atlantis” by Utskottet

“Surface Tension” by Tom Biddulph and Barbara Ryan

“Surface Tension” by Tom Biddulph and Barbara Ryan