A record number of visitors enjoyed the 4.5 km art route on Saturday evening
More than 600,000 citizens and visitors visited 22 light locations, part of the third edition of the LUNAR Festival of Lights in Sofia. The 4.5-kilometre route in the central part of the capital provided a variety of light art created by artists from all over the world. A record number of visitors gathered at the peculiar open-air gallery on Saturday evening – over 300 thousand guests from home and abroad. They had the opportunity to enjoy the innovative works while strolling through the pedestrianised streets and boulevards.
The art of 24 artists and creative studios from 12 countries transformed some of the capital’s favourite buildings, parks and squares. The works of artists from Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, Indonesia, Poland, Romania, USA, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, France and Sweden brightened up twenty-two locations in the capital.
“I believe that we have managed to put Bulgaria in a very interesting place on the map of light festivals in the world and that in the future we will continue to inspire many young talents and give a platform to new and established artists to create art especially for our capital. We are happy that we have managed to create a quality program that provokes the imagination of visitors, sends important messages, but also attracts more and more viewers, which will inevitably contribute to the cultural and economic development of our country,” said Marin Petkov, founder of MP-STUDIO and the LUNAR festival.
As part of the festival, for the second time in Bulgaria, an international video mapping championship was held, organized by MP-STUDIO, with the institutional support of the Ministry of Tourism. The Myths and Legends competition challenged artists from around the world to interpret the richness of their peoples’ imaginations since antiquity. Twenty-nine participants, from 18 countries, entered the competition. On the last night of the festival, the three winners of the championship, chosen by a five-member international jury, were announced on the facade of the Regional History Museum – Sofia. The first place went to the Indonesian studio The Fox, The Folks, with their show “RWA Bienda: Dualism”, the second place went to the Polish artistic collective Clockwork, with their work “Ragnarok”. The third place went to the show “MURUP”, by the studio Story of Karana from Indonesia.
“When I first attended the festival, I was extremely impressed by the art and the talent of the artists. A more beautiful urban environment changes the way we think about the world. Every beautiful event, every beautiful urban place, the combination of the two – beautiful urban space and art, give birth to new and new sensations. Something we need to pass on to our children so they grow up with a different attitude to the world and a sense of aesthetics. The Metropolitan Municipality supports LUNAR through its Cultural Calendar because our goal is to create more opportunities for culture in urban environments. And this is also an opportunity for talented Bulgarian and foreign artists from all over the world to perform,” said Vasil Terziev, Mayor of Sofia Municipality, during the opening of the festival.
The creative collective behind the festival is the Bulgarian 3D mapping and visual effects studio MP-STUDIO, which is responsible for the art direction and much of the production of the Festival of Lights International format. The event was held with the support of the European Parliament in Bulgaria, the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria, the Sofia Municipality – Calendar of Cultural Events, the Ministry of Tourism and with the financial support of the Creation Programme of the National Culture Fund, as well as with the general media support of bTV Media Group.
The names of the three winners of the second international video mapping contest in Bulgaria are now known. The contest “Myths and Legends” was organized by MP-STUDIO, with the institutional [...]
