Signal Festival 2024

The Signal Festival 2024 delivered an extraordinary fusion of art, technology, architecture, and public spaces, offering a journey through contemporary digital and light art installations in iconic urban settings. Titled Ecosystems II: Quest, the festival addressed the delicate balance between nature, technology, and society through a series of 22 installations, with 7 exclusive to the Gallery Zone. Held from October 10-13, 2024, it introduced two routes: one through Prague Castle and the other in the city center, inviting visitors to explore familiar and hidden parts of the city in a new light.

Ecosystems II: The Quest

The 2024 edition continued the three-year Ecosystems series, focusing on the theme of “Quest.” Curator Pavel Mrkus positioned the festival as an exploration of contemporary societal, environmental, and technological dilemmas. The installations were organized into four thematic chapters: Machinery Missionaries, Deep Travellers, Into the Universe, and Play. Each chapter addressed with the impact of technology on modern ecosystems and our quest for balance within these complex systems. The festival encouraged a reflection on how technological advancements, artificial intelligence, and societal changes are intertwined in shaping the future of ecosystems, both personal and planetary.

Architecture as Art Canvas

The festival’s installations made innovative use of Prague’s historic and modern architectural landmarks, transforming public spaces into immersive environments, and vibrant art zones.

This year, for the first time, the festival included Prague Castle, the largest castle complex in the world. Key installations included Filip Hodas’s video mapping Eternal Recurrence, which adorned the Archbishop’s Palace with a layered narrative of life’s evolution, and Jiří Příhoda’s Capriccio, which examined the Renaissance’s use of perspective and geometric balance, transporting visitors into an illusionary space where light, shadow, and form play out a dramatic interaction. Korean artist Seohyo’s Coded Tapestry: Prague was another highlight, reinterpreting Prague’s architectural motifs as a digital tapestry at the Prague Castle Riding Hall. The Spanish artist SpY’s ORB in the South Gardens, a mirrored, reflective sphere inspired by ancient Egyptian architecture, created fragmented reflections of the surrounding architecture, sky, and audience. Michael Bielický & Kamila B. Richter’s Columbus 2.0 at Schwarzenberg Palace, invited audiences to steer through a sea of digital information in real-time, using an interactive control system to navigate today’s overwhelming data streams.

In the city center, installations like Desilence’s The Rhythm of the Ocean at the Municipal Library transported visitors into deep oceanic environments. Accompanied by a soundscape from Grammy-nominated musician Suzanne Ciani, the video mapping was a stark reminder of the fragile equilibrium that sustains life on Earth. Laterna magika’s Iron Horse: Fractured offered a multidisciplinary performance piece, combining theater, dance, and audiovisual art. The installation at Clam-Gallas Palace invited viewers to witness fragmented stories through the windows of passing trains. Cao Yuxi’s Dimensional Sampling in Old Town Square explored the role of QR codes in contemporary culture, creating a digital totem that connected the physical and virtual worlds.

The interventions offered fresh perspectives on Prague’s historical landmarks while redefining how public spaces can serve as canvases for creative expression​.

Immersive Experience

Signal Festival’s interactive and multisensory nature elevated the visitor experience, encouraging direct engagement with the artworks. UVA’s Strange Attractions at Kunsthalle Praha examined chaos theory using a kinetic installation–a pendulum–to drive real-time projections, blurring the lines between order and randomness. Bill Fontana’s Silent Echoes, hosted in the Dominican Convent, linked the sounds of Notre Dame Cathedral bells with glacial echoes from the Dachstein massif. Petr Vacek and Adam Cigler’s Reflection, a kinetic installation featuring moving robotic mirrors, synchronized with surrounding light and sound, created dynamic visual patterns, inviting viewers to engage with the artwork and the surrounding environment.

Effets de Soir, a series of video installations by Italian artist Quayola at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP), explored natural light and shadow effects through advanced technology, inspired by the works of Monet and Van Gogh.

These immersive installations invited visitors to reflect on the interconnectedness of ecosystems, both natural and digital.

Signal Forum

For the first time, the festival was accompanied by Signal Forum, a new educational and networking platform. Organized in collaboration with the Slovak festival Sensorium, the forum was held at CAMP on October 11 and 12, 2024. It featured 15 internationally recognized speakers from fields including science, technology, and the arts. Key speakers included NASA astrobiologist Michaela Musilová and Arts at CERN founder Ariane Koek, alongside creative innovators like the Parisian studio Superbien and the performative programmers Foxdog Studios.

The Forum extended the festival’s engagement with ecosystems, as experts discussed how technological advancements, artificial intelligence, and societal changes shape our future.

Merging Digital and Physical Realms

Signal Festival once again demonstrated the power of art to transform public spaces and engage audiences with complex themes. The festival’s use of Prague’s iconic architecture as both a canvas and stage allowed visitors to see the city in a new light, fostering a deeper connection between art, space, and community. Through its diverse installations and thought-provoking themes, Signal Festival 2024 succeeded in merging the digital and physical realms, offering visitors an unforgettable artistic journey that resonated on both personal and societal levels​.