BELGRADE (SEEcult.org) - A festival dedicated to light, called Belgrade of light, are happening in Serbia capital for the first time, and it will also present several European festivals of lighting at the exhibition which will be open on September 20 in Magacin in Kraljevica Marka Street. Through artistic interventions in space, exhibitions, lectures and workshops, Belgrade of Light will open up a completely new experience and present a different image of the city.

Related links: http://www.belgradeoflight.net

It is also a platform for creative innovations, experiments, artistic and professional discussions and idea exchange on the subject of lighting.

The festival’s goal is to gather extinguished individuals from all around the world in Belgrade and Serbia and to open up a completely new perspective in treating the light - whether it concerns an artistic expression and design, energy saving or simply identity of a city and visions of a brighter future.

The festival began on September 16 with a lecture by designer Kaoru Mende, who spoke  on “Lighting Design for Environments and Architecture” at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, and is followed in Gallery O3one with the presentation “Lighting identity of Belgrade” - the results of the workshop of students of Musashino Art University from Tokyo, Lighting Laboratory from Stockholm and Belgrade University.

Works will also be exhibited in a hole on 25th floor of the Business Centre Usce, same day as the symposium Transnational Lighting Detectives 08 will be held.

The exhibition of Eiropean festivals of lighting will be opened on September 20 in Magacin u Kraljevica Marka, and will present Festival of Lights in Germany, Superflux in France, Hansaflux in Estonia and Lighting Guerrilla in Slovenia.

This year, the festival is introducing international group “Transnational Lighting Detectives”.

Founding members of this group will hold their annual symposium on the subject of lighting identity of a city. The workshop is also organized for students of Belgrade University who will, together with the guests from Stockholm Lighting Laboratory and members of Tokyo Art Academy study Belgrade through the eyes of “lighting detectives”, mentored by well known world lighting designers.

Transnational Lighting Detectives is an organization that aims to make popular the culture of lighting on local and global level. The initiator of the idea and founder is Japanese lighting designer Kaoru Mende. Inspired by the examples from his surrounding and with rich experience in dealing with lighting in architecture, he formed the group Shoumei Tanteidan (Lighting Detectives) in Tokyo in 1990.

The group is non-profit and gathers professionals as well as those who are interested in lighting and experimenting with light in architecture. Since 2001, the  group has expanded itself onto the other world cities by establishing offices in Stockholm, New York, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Singapore, Beijing and Belgrade.

Belgrade Lighting Detectives were established in 2006, on the initiative of Aleksandra Stratimirovic, one of the members of international group Transnational Lighting Detectives. As a seventh world “lighting agency”, Belgrade detectives are promoting the idea of nourishing and developing the culture of lighting. The results of Belgrade Lighting Detectives’ so far actions have been presented at the symposium in Singapore 2006 and Copenhagen 2007. This year, Belgrade detectives, in cooperation with Cultural Front Belgrade, are organising international symposium Transnational Lighting Detectives Forum in Belgrade, which will be held 19th September as a part of first Serbian lighting festival “Belgrade - White City - of Light”.

The festival is initiated by Aleksandra Stratimirovic and organised by Cultural Front Belgrade, with the help of Belgrade Lighting Detectives and in cooperation with all leading Serbian companies and institutions that are dealing with lighting.