The Signal Festival is a significant cultural event taking place annually in Prague, which links contemporary visual art, urban space, and modern technologies. Several installations are set up around the city centered around light design, digital and visual art. Additionally, the festival aims to educate visitors and explore contemporary social issues, making it a platform for both artistic expression and societal reflection. What makes this festival even more special is that you don’t necessarily need to be aware of what it is to participate. It becomes a part of the city’s fabric, making it hard for residents and visitors to avoid. The festival goes beyond its main exhibitions and organizes side-events for children, professionals, and students, ensuring that it caters to a wide range of audiences and encourages the development of new installations.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer → Thermal Drift / © photo by Vojtěch Veškrna, 2023

The fantastic thing about the Signal Festival is the way it interacts with the city, and invites you to join in. Only 7 exhibitions require the paid wristband to enter, the other 13 are free to the public. A wide range of characters were welcomed to experience the festival of lights. Children, students, locals, tourists, anyone who happened to be passing through Naměstí Republiky, Mariánské Náměstí, or several other high-trafficked areas of the city over the weekend. The art was immersed in the cityscape, cohesive with the hustle and bustle of Prague’s nightlife. The light displays felt organic, like natural aspects of metropolitan life. By now, its 11th year, the Signal festival has become a familiar institution of Prague. At the same time, the bright, other-worldly installations refuse to fade into the background. The 3-dimensional constructions dominate the spaces they occupy, demanding the viewers’ attention. You are confronted with a visual rarity, some combination of light and form which, at least at first, resists comprehension. Many of the installations also feature an auditory experience, ambient sounds that combat the city noise, distorting the mood and atmosphere further. 

András Laszló Nagy → Luminary Glyphs / © photo by Tomáš Slavík

The Signal Festival attracts millions of people each year; it is the most visited cultural event in the Czech Republic. A renowned and well-loved annual event in its own right, but my favorite aspect is that you don’t even have to know what it is to take part. As a resident of Prague, frankly, I found the festival hard to avoid. I met my friend for coffee at Kampus Hybernská, and saw children patiently queuing for their turn in the interactive exhibition Rainbow, the first in the history of the festival designed just for kids. Then we walked across nearby Naměstí Republiky, and stumbled into Jan Kaláb’s sculptural installation Irideus Bulla. 

Jan Kaláb → Irideus Bulla / © photo by Dušan Vondra, 2023

This sculpture was one of my favorites: the way it employed mathematical, geometric symmetries to form something alive, and alien. In person, the lights changed and moved through the monument, entrancing the viewer. And it required no ticket, no waiting in line, no bar to enter. I wonder how many people in the crowd were just on their way on or off the metro when they discovered the sculpture. In our busy lives, it can be so difficult to find the time to just stop and breathe. To smell the roses, appreciate the nice things. Placing the sculpture here, instead of up in a gallery behind a paywall, gives every commuter passing by the chance to breathe in the air, and spare a moment for the arts. 

I caught the tram from Jindřišská that day, and couldn’t avoid passing through another Signal site: Puddles by the designer Václav Mlynář. This is another one that I really enjoyed. The serene drips of the water and ripples projected beneath were meditative and introspective, something I really needed in that moment.

Václav Mlynář & MONUMENT Office → Kaluže / © photo by Viktor Schwing, 2023

For over a decade, the Signal Festival has consistently brought together contemporary visual art, urban spaces, and modern technologies to create an immersive cultural experience. It is set apart by its remarkable accessibility, inviting people from all walks of life to partake in the magic of light, sound, and form that transforms the city into a living canvas. Whether you are a resident, a tourist passing through, or simply someone on their daily commute, the festival ensures that everyone has the opportunity to experience the awe-inspiring installations that grace its streets. In a fast-paced world, the Signal Festival reminds us to take a moment, stop, and breathe in the artistic wonders that surround us.

For more information: https://www.signalfestival.com/en/