Today sees the start of the Ghent Festival of Light that runs till Sunday 4 February. This is the 6th edition of the three-yearly festival. The city expects large crowds and is banking on 800,000 visitors. The route covers over seven kilometres in the Old Town and the Old Docks and takes visitors along 31 illuminated works of art.
One of the art works that is bound to attract a lot of interest is "Jacob, the Wise Snowman" by Belgium’s Studio FAH. The famous statue of city father Jacob van Artevelde has been turned into a snowball as if by magic. How the snowball will look during the festival isn’t yet entirely clear as artists were still working on it ahead of the opening (photo top).
Germany’s Claudia Reh is represented with “It’s a Question of Blue”. One single work of art illuminates the entire Sleepstraat, a street famed for its Turkish restaurants. Even the local grocer’s has been incorporated into the work. The artwork was developed in conjunction with students at the KASK art academy and local residents. A church in the street has been turned into a living painting.
Spain too is represented by SpY. The artist has created an enormous light-shedding sun. The idea is to get people to think about global warming.
The festival starts each day at 7PM and at 6PM on Sunday.