Reflecting Light in Helsinki

Oct 11, 2023 | 2023, News

Reflecting Light – an artistic and research project centered on lighting is currently on a residency at Mad House and UniArts Helsinki.

 

Reflecting Light

Reflecting Light is a four year artistic and collective research project financed by the KASK, school of Arts Gent and co-financed by BUDA arts centre (Kortijk). The project started in October 2021.

The goal of the project is to build and elaborate on a collective discourse amongst lighting designers and to explore ways in which this discourse can feed the conversation and collaboration within the broader performing arts field in all its diversity. Setting aside some specific practices, light is in general less recognized, analysed and understood as a fundamental part in the dramaturgy of contemporary performing arts practices, nor does it find its way into the artistic curriculum of performing arts educational programs in general. The central research questions of the project are: How to speak about light? How to create from the perspective of lighting (design)? How to make light a full and equal signifier within a contemporary dramaturgy?

 

Residency at Mad House and UniArts Helsinki

Three people standing in a theatre space. A spotlight shines a light on one of the people.

Photo courtesy of the Research Group.

Invited by Mad House and UniArts’ Theatre Academy – and supported by the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux – the research group is collaborating with Finnish lighting designer Meri Ekola on three main topics: What is rehearsing, from a lighting designers’ perspective? What could collaborative lighting design mean? And what is our shared vocabulary to speak about light?

Meri Ekola and the research group will install different exercises and discursive sessions that are shared with students of the department of lighting design and local lighting designers. Ekola curates the residency together with Henri Emmanuel Doublier, Tomi Humalisto and Emmi Vainio.

 

The Research Group

The Reflecting Light research group consists of Emese Csornai, Henri Emmanuel Doublier, Tomi Humalisto, Jan Fedinger, Jan Maertens, Bruno Pocheron, Ezra Veldhuis, Geert Belpaeme, and Bram Coeman.

 

Photos courtesy of the research group.

 

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