The Amsterdam Light Festival is a seven-week-long event that took place for the eleventh time last winter. It features a boat and walking route along twenty unique light art installations against the backdrop of our beautiful canals. In the world of light sculptures, this festival is unique as it entirely takes place on and along the water.

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Van Schie has provided the pontoon formations on which the artworks were built for almost all editions of the festival. Once again, the company from Mijdrecht was involved, both on the Amstel River and on the vast waters of Oosterdok. Four light objects stood out this year:

Light gate

A creation reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The structure was made of mesh-like metal and stood on two pontoon islands. It was a unique experience for boating visitors to sail under this floating gate, with navigation lights placed on both pontoons. The artwork was designed by American-Peruvian architect Edwin Baruch.

Homage to the incandescent lamp

Artist Theo Botschuijver wanted to pay tribute to the famous incandescent lamp with a tungsten filament, a lamp that first came into existence around 1910 but has not been sold since 2013. Philips became world-famous for it. The incandescent lamp was a significant innovation back then, replacing candlelight and gas lamps in the Netherlands. Now, we have super-efficient alternatives like LED lighting.

Water and fire

Orange and red-yellow LED lights jump from branch to branch and from below to above, giving the impression of water being on fire in front of the Amstel Hotel. This creation is by Paul Vendel and Sandra de Wolf, both graduates of the Rietveld Academie. Their work is always inspired by elements from nature.

NEMO Science Museum

In this museum of science and technology, visitors are constantly misled. The light waterfall, made up of continuously shifting LED lights, does not flow downward but rather upward, against the facade of the building, from the pontoon.

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