Luci d’Artista Lights up Torino, Italy

*Click on images below for full-sized view.

During the cold winter months, between November and January, the Italian city of Turin (Torino) hosts an artistic event called Luci d’artista. It is a cultural event revolving around a theme of light initiated by the city since 1998; each year, around the Christmas holiday season, the city is bathed in light from numerous art installations. Many of the city’s piazzas (squares), buildings, and streets are covered in lights, adding to the warm, festive feeling of the season. Turin hopes that more people will recognize this cultured city as a premier destination of contemporary art in Europe.

The Mole Antonelliana is a landmark building in Turin. Originally meant to be a synagogue, it is now home to the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. On one of the dome’s four sides, the first Fibonacci numbers are displayed in bright red neon. The work is by Mario Merz and called Il volo dei Numeri, or ”Flight of the Numbers.”

This one is called Tappeto Volante, or “Flying Carpet,” and is located in Piazza Palazzo di Città, by Daniel Buren. You can read more of this one HERE.

Everything in Torino seems to be lit during luci d’artista, and this piece of sidewalk is no different; this was lit from above by some LED or laser projectors pointing at it, and the picture was constantly changing.

These eerie little guys collectively are called the Bwindi Light Masks, by Richi Ferrero, and installed at Palazzo Reale. Read more about it and see more photos in this previous post.

And here I leave you with some random light installations positioned above many of the streets throughout Turin during luci d’artista. Make sure you check it out if you are in Torino during the winter months!

These photos were taken by my friends and me during our Great Northern Italy Adventure, on December 26, 2012. If you think the photos are decent, then Paolo, Alessandra, or Joseph probably captured them; if you find them to be hideous and nauseating, then I might have taken that one

Christian “Krzysiek“ Eilers is a twenty-something who constantly likes to look at the next flight out of JFK. His life goal is to visit every country in the world; as a young adult working full-time while also taking classes, he often settles on visiting the near countries of Central and South America and the Caribbean, knocking these off the list as it is less of a financial strain than Europe or Asia. Caffeine is his vice, and if he doesn’t have a coffee in his hands, then it’s probably a green tea. A native of New York City, when he is not traveling, he can find an abundance of cultural influences right in his own city, enough to keep him satisfied until the next country’s beckon cannot be ignored any longer.