Dreams and visions take centre stage at this year’s Signal Festival
The annual Signal Festival of light kicks off in Prague on Thursday, with 21 installations by Czech and international artists across the city. For the first time this year, the festival will take visitors to Dejvice and feature a dedicated zone showcasing student projects. I spoke to the festival’s programme coordinator, Daniel Burda, and started by asking him about this year’s theme, Dreams and Visions.
“It’s always somehow complicated because it’s a very conceptual approach, but given that we plan quite a long time ahead, we always set a theme that helps guide the artists when we launch our collaboration with them.
“I think dreams and visions is a really nice theme for us because it’s something that everybody can explore on their own, and at the same time, it’s very open to many narratives. So dreams and visions are the underlying topic of every installation at the festival. But some of them are dreamier, I must say.
“If I were to pick one of the dreamiest artworks, I’d say it’s probably one of the more distant installations, located on the river channel near the water treatment plant. It’s by the Taiwanese artist Aka Chang. And it’s very interesting in terms of the festival’s topic as well.”
Apart from this installation, what would you say are the main highlights of this year’s edition?
“I would definitely say the fact that, for the first time, we’re in Prague 6, in the Dejvice district. That’s really the first time in the 14 years that the festival has been running that we’re exploring this new district.
“It’s very open to the general public. There’s a zone for students where they present their university projects. I think it’s very accessible to children and families, as well as older people. There aren’t many paid locations, so really anyone can come and experience the festival.
“On the other side of the river, in the centre of Prague, in Prague 1, there are installations around Signal Space and other locations. This is more for a discerning audience because there are more conceptual installations, mostly indoors. So if you don’t feel like going outdoors, or perhaps it’s too cold, I’d recommend staying in the centre and visiting the indoor locations.”
You mentioned students. This year, the festival is introducing a dedicated student zone called Student Visions for the first time. What will visitors find there, and what kinds of projects are the students presenting?
“First of all, there are four projects. There’s an object installation, but there’s also a chemistry show. Anyone interested in studying chemistry, for example, can see this show, which will last about ten minutes and feature flames reaching up to ten metres.
“There will also be an interactive installation by students of computer graphics. Visitors will be able to have their faces manipulated by an interactive algorithm.
“And there will also be a projection about a student Formula racing car being developed at the Czech Technical University, called E4. There’s also an illuminated object called Impulse, created by students from the Faculty of Architecture.”
Finally, if you were to choose just one event, installation or video-mapping projection, what would it be?
“I saw it yesterday at one of the general rehearsals, and I was really happy and astonished by how it looked. It’s called Residual Signal. It’s our homage to Woody Vasulka, the famous video artist of the 1980s and 1990s, who came from Czechoslovakia but did most of his work in the USA.
“What we’re presenting is an installation paying homage to his work, created by Mucha Studio, a contemporary studio that makes animated films and advertisements. They’re also very creative, and I think they’ve really managed to capture Woody Vasulka’s legacy in a fantastic way.
“It’s funny, it’s intelligent, and it’s also a bit edgy. I think that for anyone interested in contemporary art or media history, this is a great place to go.”
