Top image: Bolt by Jun Ong

The fifth cycle of i Light Marina Bay will illuminate Singapore’s Marina Bay precinct with a series of light art installations when it returns from 3 to 26 March 2017. The festival is now inviting submissions from local and international artists, designers, creative industry practitioners, equipment suppliers, businesses and educational institutions.

The theme for 2017 is Light and Nature, and invites participants to explore the relationship of light and nature and the city. The theme encourages artists and designers to consider light – natural or artificial – against the contested space where greenery coexists with the built environment.

Curator Randy Chan of Zarch Collaboratives explains that the focus for 2017 is “a natural progression from last year [and its theme In Praise of Shadows].”

Light Origami by Kaz Shirane and Reuben Young

“While we were talking [previously] about how shadows always exist in complement to light, this year we wanted to examine the prevalence of nature and light, and likewise reexamine how these can play off against one another and against the city,” says Chan. He adds, “The context of Singapore – our city in a garden – also led to the comfortable framing of the theme and how nature is perpetually in contention with the city and exists in a delicate balance with our built environment.”

Moon Haze by Feng Jiacheng and Huang Yuanbe. Image courtesy of i Light Marina Bay

Last year’s programme consisted of 25 projects from Singapore and around the world. Notable works included Moon Haze, an inflatable installation by Chinese artists Feng Jiacheng and Huang Yuanbe that functioned as an ambient air monitoring system. The less polluted the surrounding air quality, the brighter the moon shone.

Also of note, Lampshade by architecture, landscape, interior and brand design firm Snøhetta was a bamboo structure that served as shelter during the day, and transformed at night into a lantern lit by solar-powered lamps that had been charging all day.

Shade by Snøhetta. Image courtesy of i Light Marina Bay

Recalling the quality of works from the 2016 edition, Chan says, “[The] theme In Praise of Shadows sought to reframe and reimagine what light could do or be – particularly in how we could relook sustainable lighting in a light festival. It was a challenging theme, but as a whole we were quite pleased with how the selected submissions reflected the theme well, and challenged notions of how light is employed.”

i Light Marina Bay is organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The open call closes on 31 July 2016, and more details can be found here.

Fissure by Ong Kian Peng

C’Scape by Illuminate LD. Image courtesy of i Light Marina Bay

What a Loving and Beautiful World at the ArtScience Museum, by teamLab. Image courtesy of i Light Marina Bay