Signal Festival Lights Up Prague’s Historic Center
▼ Summary
– The Signal Festival, a major Czech and Central European digital art showcase, gained global recognition from a mention in Dan Brown’s new novel *The Secret of Secrets*.
– The festival director views the novel’s mention as a form of recognition, though the event already typically attracts around half a million visitors over four days.
– A popular ticketed installation was Bill Viola’s *Tristan’s Ascension*, featuring a projected figure rising with water in a historic church.
– A premiere installation by Peppercorns Interactive Media Art projected onto a mist cloud over the Vltava River, creating a wind-dependent 3D hologram-like spectacle.
– Other premieres included an Italian studio’s kaleidoscopic projection on the Old Town Hall tower and a Peppercorns LED installation recounting Taiwan’s history.
The recent mention of the Signal Festival in a major international bestseller has brought a fresh wave of global attention to Prague’s premier digital art event. This recognition underscores the festival’s growing stature as the largest showcase of its kind in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. In Dan Brown’s latest novel, a scene references the protagonist’s experience at the 2024 festival, a detail that organizers welcome as a meaningful form of validation. Festival director Martin Pošta expressed satisfaction with the literary nod, viewing it as an honor, though he noted the event’s popularity was already firmly established long before the book’s release. While final attendance figures for this year are still pending, the four-day spectacle consistently draws crowds of around half a million people.
On the festival’s closing night, a significant line formed well in advance for the monumental installation Tristan’s Ascension by American video art pioneer Bill Viola. This ticketed event, housed within the historic Church of St. Salvator, presented a powerful visual narrative. Attendees witnessed a large-scale projection of a Christ-like figure ascending, surrounded by streams of water that appeared to defy gravity, creating a deeply immersive experience.
The festival’s opening was marked by a premiere on the Vltava River near the Dvořák Embankment. Here, Taiwan’s Peppercorns Interactive Media Art presented Tzolk’in Light, a projection cast onto a dense cloud of mist. This approach presented a unique artistic challenge, distinct from the difficulties of mapping images onto architectural surfaces with their irregular details. Projecting onto shifting water droplets required the artists to relinquish a degree of control, as the wind constantly altered the form and depth of the work, revealing or obscuring parts of the scene. The result, however, was a breathtaking three-dimensional spectacle with a holographic quality, impossible to replicate on a static, flat facade.
Another debut piece transformed the iconic Old Town Hall tower, courtesy of the Italian studio mammasONica. The 230-foot structure became a dynamic canvas, morphing into a vibrant kaleidoscope of blue, green, red, and white surfaces. Not far away, on Republic Square, Peppercorns presented a second installation. Their circular LED display featured Between Mountains and Seas, a work that visually narrated the rich history of Taiwan, adding a layer of cultural storytelling to the festival’s dazzling array of light and technology.
(Source: Wired)