Nuit Blanc-esque light festival, Lumen, returns to Waterloo
Posted Sep 18, 2022 06:27:00 PM.
Lumen, an annual, free festival run by Create Waterloo, is celebrating its fifth anniversary in uptown Waterloo.
This year's event will host 35+ installations and 50+ artists and run on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 6-11 p.m.
Featuring local artists mixing light, art, and technology into their installations, the all-ages festival has interactive exhibits like the Lantern Making exhibit, and a Glass Torchwork Demonstration presented by Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.
One exhibit, Creature Threshold, is the brainchild of Jackie Levitt and Jonah Kamphorst, two underground multimedia artists specializing in animating “raw and unconventional spaces” with light and sound. While Levitt mixes and projects abstract and textural video creations, Kamphorst creates and performs atmospheric electronic music.
Another piece, the Anglerfish, is a “bioluminescent being” from a “harsh place,” that lures its audience in by tapping into the consciousness of the popular deep sea creature.
“I find inspiration in the relationship between nature, technology and how it manages to work itself into our lives,” said Ryan Longo, the artist behind The Anglerfish. “When I get a chance to experience nature I’m so blown away by how the natural world finds a way.”
Light is a common theme in several exhibits, including Longo’s. According to the artist, it offers another dimension allowing his art to grow.
“This has had an incredible impact on my life,” said Longo. “The experiences created for others through my art keeps driving me to take it to the next level.”
Established in 2018, Lumen takes place on the last Saturday every September at various indoor and outdoor installation locations. The event was adapted in 2020 to a virtual format called “Lumen at Home.” A virtual festival, the tradition continued in 2021, when another hybrid festival called “Lumen Lite” bridged the two.
In addition to its artist line-up, Lumen features partnerships between the City of Waterloo and local cultural organizations.
You can find more information about Lumen here.
