Llum BCN is an annual light arts festival held in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain. It is celebrated since 2012 every February in Barcelona's neighborhood

Poblenou ; ) is an extensive neighborhood of Barcelona’s Sant Martí (district), Sant Martí district that borders the Mediterranean Sea to the south, Sant Adrià del Besòs to the east, Parc de la Ciutadella in Ciutat Vella to the west, and Sant Andreu ...

. It features a series of light installations and shows.

Concept

''Llum BCN'', ''Light Barcelona'' in English, extends across various key points in the Poblenou neighborhood, starting at the Design Museum of Barcelona at Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes. The installations are spread across the neighborhood and are visible from nightfall until midnight. The 2024 festival edition expands with a new axis, including spaces such as the

Teatre Nacional de Catalunya Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC; ; ''National Theatre of Catalonia'') is a public theatre located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was created by the Culture Department of the Catalan Government to normalize and enhance the theatre and dance ...

L'Auditori L'Auditori () is a modern building of 42,000 square metres designed by the architect Rafael Moneo, opened on 22 March 1999, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is in the centre of the new pole of urban development of Plaça de les Glòries, wh ...

, and the Encants market. Large historic buildings, old factory chimneys and industrial plants, but also the modern Torre Glòries are illuminated by large-scale projections and audio-visual displays in the Poblenou neighborhood. Many of the festival's light displays include the use of technology such as virtual reality and AI.

Artists

Llum BCN has featured artists such as

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (born 1967 in Mexico City) is a Mexican-Canadian electronic artist living and working in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He creates platforms for public participation by using robotic lights, digital fountains, computerized survei ...

, Julio Le Parc, Luke Jerram, Ulf Langheinrich,

United Visual Artists United Visual Artists (UVA) is a London-based art practice founded in 2003 by British artist Matt Clark (b.1974). UVA's diverse body of work integrates new technologies with traditional media such as painting, sculpture, performance, and site-sp ...

, Kurt Hentschlager, Trevor Paglen, Chila Kumari Burman,

Vera Molnár Vera Molnár (; 5 January 1924 – 7 December 2023) was a Hungarian media artist who lived and worked in Paris, France. Molnár is widely considered to have been a pioneer of the generative art aspect of computer art. She was one of the first ...

and Catalonia's Antoni Arola as well as local schools of art, design, illumination, and architecture. The 2025 edition includes an AI installation of Joan Fontcuberta about the verses of the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

, generating virtual landscapes from the emergence of light and darkness via the landscapes of the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...

to the destruction of Gaza. A robotic voice recites the verses in several languages.Joan Fontcuberta: Gènesi.IA
Retrieved 2025-02-05.

Gallery

File:005 Llum BCN, projecció a la font de Neptú, plaça de la Mercè.JPG, Llum BCN 2015 File:Mapping a Casa Milà (Pedrera) el febrer de 2016.JPG, Llum BCN 2016 File:51 Ajuntament de Barcelona, pl. Sant Jaume, projeccions a la façana, Llum BCN.jpg, Llum BCN 2017 File:Llum BCN Poblenou 20180218 202900(0).jpg, Llum BCN 2018 File:Llum Barcelona I tu, què posaries sota el focus? 13.jpg, Llum BCN 2019 File:Llum a les desigualtats 200214 004 dc (49547168992).jpg, Llum BCN 2020: Worldwide injustice File:LlumBCN2021 Agorythm.jpg, Llum BCN 2021: Onionlab, Agorythm File:Llum BCN 2022 Limbo.jpg, Llum BCN 2022: Toni Arola, Limbo File:Llum BCN 2023 Another Moon.jpg, Llum BCN 2023: Another Moon File:LlumBCN2024 Lux Domus.jpg, Llum BCN 2024: Lux Domus File:Llum BCN 2025 - GenesisIA - the good world.jpg, Llum BCN 2025: Joan Fontcuberta: Gènesi.IA

References

{{Reflist Light festivals Culture in Barcelona El Poblenou