Home Diary Light to Night Festival 2022

Light to Night Festival 2022

Light to Night Festival 2022 at the Singapore Civic District.

Light to Night Festival 2022 encourages you to engange with our world using new perspectives.


2 quick questions. When was the inaugural Light to Night Festival? What was its original purpose?

Well, according to official literature, edition 2022 is the sixth, so the first was in 2017. As for purpose, that’s tougher to answer. Firstly, there’s (strangely) little information online about the inaugural festival. Over the years, such as in 2019, the festival has taken on additional identities too.

Not to mention, it’s part of the Singapore Art Week too. Given the January dates, some tourists I’ve spoken with assumed the festival is part of Lunar New Year celebrations.

Regardless, I think for most Singaporeans today, the Light to Night Festival is one of the key events to look forward to every January, outside of CNY lights and shopping. As some write-ups have noted, it’s one of the selfie/-gram events of January.

For me, I do enjoy going about the Civic District every January checking out the many light projections and art installations. That there are usually so many displays means I’ve never once managed to finish seeing everything within one evening too.

But that’s part of the allure of the festival, I guess. And the reason to visit each edition multiple times.

Light to Night Festival 2022: “A Pursuit of New Perspectives and States of Mind”

Titled New Ways of Seeing, Thinking and Being, the synopsis for Light to Night Festival 2022 describes the programmes as invitations to engage with fresh perspectives about our world.

I … honestly find that a little too open-ended in phrasing. (Although I used to write such statements when working in Corp Comms!) Thus, all I’ll say is, I enjoyed this year’s light projections. Compared to previous years, I find the ones this time around gentler and dreamier.

Light Projections at Civic District Monuments

The usual 4 monuments are lit up. These being, the National Gallery, the Arts House, Victoria Theatre, and Asian Civilisations Museum. Particularly the accompanying soundscapes.

Light to Night Festival 2022 Light Projections
As always, the biggest light projection is at National Gallery Singapore. This year’s version is titled Refractioned and is a “psyberpunk,” “multiverse” journey created using image synthesis technologies.
Refractioned blends photos of HDB facades and Singaporean landmarks taken during the (argg) 2020 Circuit Breaker period. The result, as you can see, is quite trippy and dreamy.
The Supreme Court Wing is, of course, also part of the stage for Refractioned.
Over at the Arts House, Fleeting Flights tells the story of a great escape. One that led to a process of renewal. I find the whole sequence vibrant and surreal.
In Pursuit at the Asian Civilisations Museum has a mythical Anime feel. It reminded me of the backstory sequences in movies like Kung Fu Panda, Raya and the Last Dragon, etc.
Elusive Etudes, at Victoria Theatre, was my favourite light projection of the evening! Beautiful but dark, grim but also hopeful, it depicts the struggles of performing artists in their journey to find balance in an ever-changing world.
The first third of Elusive Etudes is particularly gripping and with a strong macabre feel.
Inside the National Gallery, Into Multiplicities explores the realms of archives collected over time.

Art Installations and Exhibitions

As with previous years, there’s a variety of indoor and outdoor art installations/mini-exhibitions for all to enjoy.

The displays within National Gallery Singapore could be confusing, though, as some of them aren’t Light to Night Festival 2022 exhibits, but for other events such as Children’s Biennale 2021. Since they are all under one roof, I guess it’s best to forget about what-is-for-what. Just go ahead and enjoy whatever catches your eye, if you’re heading down.

The outdoor Flight at the Padang will be a delight for selfie-takers throughout the festival.
Lumba (2022) at the Esplanade Park. The name is inspired by the many sails gracing Marina Bay during the historical New Year Regatta. (The lights change, btw)
Making Room at level 2 of the National Gallery, City Hall Wing. This is described as encapsulating the changes to our living spaces because of the (damn) pandemic.
And over at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, All Things New – The New Modern Lights. I enjoyed this jazzy performance, especially that jazz guitarist!


This year’s festival lasts for three weeks and ends on Feb 3, 2022. Check the official festival calendar for activities, timings, exhibitions, etc!


Light to Night 2023.

Read my other Singapore posts.

Summary
Article Name
Light to Night Festival 2022 | The Scribbling Geek
Description
Titled “New Ways of Seeing, Thinking and Being,” Light to Night Festival 2022 has some 60 displays for you to swoon over.
Author

NO COMMENTS

Thanks for commenting!Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

error: Alert: Content selection is disabled!!
Exit mobile version