Marina Bay, Millenia Walk and South Beach have been transformed in honour of i Light Singapore 2023 from June 1 to 25. For the next three weeks, the annual festival brings a host of captivating outdoor experiences and exhibitions for its ninth edition.
i Light Singapore 2023
Presented by DBS and URA, expect 14 beautiful installations and exciting programmes, using sustainable materials for the festival’s 2023 theme A New Wave focusing on the colour blue from the visible light spectrum. Each design is made with energy-saving lights and eco-friendly materials to provoke conversations among festival attendees and encourage them to adopt these sustainable habits to their daily lives.
The creative art installations are a series of projects by 22 artists from eight countries including Singapore. As mentioned the colour blue will be explored this year, symbolising a sense of calm, serenity and healing for the future. From ig-worthy immersive walks to large musical flowers…you’ll be mesmerised as art, technology and sustainability merge.
SEE MORE: Unmissable Exhibitions To Visit In Singapore
Here’s the 2023 festival highlights you can’t miss:
1. Glacier Dreams
Gaze up at the exterior of the ArtScience Museum for this intriguing installation by famous Turkish-American media artist Refik Anadol. It features visual data about glaciers worldwide being turned into Artificial Intelligence. The artwork showcases the alarming rising sea levels to provoke conversations about climate change.
2. Tree Man
Another innovative design is Tree Man by award-winning Australian art and technology studio ENESS. It features a pair of quirky sensory light sculptures, encircling a sapling arm, and changing colours using energy-saving lights. It aims to teach humans about the balance between digital devices and the environment.
3. Symphony 1
Visitors can’t miss this bright installation by Chan Wan Kyn, Linknito, and Linez along Mist Walk. It’s a light-based architectural entity that inhabits space. The artwork features masses of twisting vine-style structures, emitting an icy glow, before sprouting into sprigs of crystalline flowers. Certainly, one of the most ig-worthy installations if you ask us!
4. Block Party
Singaporean group Plug & Play invite visitors to dance in front of a multi-sensory Block Party installation at Marina Bay Link Mall. It features whimsical garden blooms and artworks of public housing blocks to remind visitors of the power we all have to shape our community.
5. Trumpet Flowers
Curated by Sydney-based Amigo & Amigo, this stunning artwork is located at Clifford Square. It features larger-than-life flower sculptures with red and white designs, boasting a sensory light and sound show, you can play with. This installation is a celebration of the beauty of nature and our surroundings.
6. Lightwave: Turning The Tide
Down by The Promontory, visitors will be educated through a magical light experience by Alibaba Cloud. Using a compelling storyline across three chapters, visitors will see into the future, where rising sea levels have submerged humans into an underwater world. It aims to make people reflect on how they can change the error of their ways to save the planet from destruction. However, admission is $5 for this one.
7. Other notable installations
Be inspired by fresh new artworks at South Beach and Millenia Walk. Highlights include a colourful student-led project Bleached at South Beach, exploring the fate of marine life under threat from degradation, by Nanyang Technology University’s School of Art, Design and Media. Plus, Show III is another student project, using audio-visual effects to simulate a shower experience about water usage. While Malaysian artist Jung Ong’s Prism at Millenia Walk is another interactive installation depicting a natural light shaft by day and a colourful beacon of artificial lighting at night promoting a sense of calm. While the The Things Left Unsaid and Blumiwave are other magical installations at Marina Bay and Mist Walk to watch out for.
8. Gastrobeats 2023
Gastrobeats merges music, food and entertainment at Bayfront Event Space from June 1 to 25, between 4pm and 11pm, as part of i Light 2023. Visitors can indulge from 50 hawker stalls, selling global eats from Asian street food classics to Mexican tacos, as well as a carnival. Additionally, unique artwork Moooooootion by Thai design studio, XD49 doubles as the stage at GastroBeats. Certainly, it’s one of the best things to do this June.
📍Bayfront Event Space, Marina Bay, Singapore
9. More experiences
Additionally, other i Light Singapore 2023 highlights include a range of programmes, entertainment and meaningful initiatives to help build a sustainable future. For example, visitors can join public pledges such as The Switch Off, Turn Up (SOTU) to commit to eco-conscious practices at home. Meanwhile, there will be a series of talks at workshops on the first weekend for Light Forum, to name a few events.
The festival opens from 7.30am to 11pm daily. But on Friday and Saturday, hours are extended to 12am. Certainly, i Light Singapore 2023 offers an instagrammable experience. See the i Light website for more information.
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