Art has always been a medium to spread a message, raise awareness, express your inner thoughts, and make a statement. The medium is diverse, ranging from traditional paintings and sculptures, to cinematographic interpretive videos. From late 2015 to early 2016, Amsterdam held a large scale light festival, with bright artworks made on the theme of “Friendship.” The event is held annually, with a different theme each year, and the whole city participates in it. The artworks are visible wherever you go, especially enthralling when taking the famous boat ride on the city’s canals. During this particular event, 35 site-specific artworks were displayed throughout the city and featured work from both local and international artists. Most importantly, the entire project ran entirely on renewable energy and 95% of the lights were low-energy LED lights (Lisa).
Amsterdam's light festival promoted friendship and unity while utilizing sustainable practices to brighten the cityscape through this annual event. #bcsfh2ohttps://t.co/BoiDTPFK5R
— Naveera Arif (@NaveeraArif) November 28, 2017
This event not only lit up the city and promoted the theme of unity and integration throughout the world, but also helped shed light to the importance of sustainability and “being green” in all the work we do, even in creating artwork. Through art, even if the light festival is not based on the theme of sustainability, it utilized sustainable practices to create these masterpieces. This allows for the artwork to raise awareness on the importance of protecting the environment and incorporating the idea of environmental protection into our daily living and infrastructure projects in the future.
