ZSOLNAY LIGHT ART MAPPING COMPETITION 2023

As part of the 7th Zsolnay Festival of Light, Zsolnay Heritage Management Ltd. announces the next edition of its popular, international, prized Zsolnay Light Art Mapping Competition, to be composed on the Pécs Cathedral.

The mapping surface remains the same: the Cathedral’s Southern façade, towers, roof and rear towers. The Jury Panel consists of a five-member international professional committee. 

• 5 artworks will be included in the festival program (shortlist)
• Each shortlisted artist will receive 2000 EUR for their completed work
• Maximum length: 4.5 minutes
• The competition has one category, the jury will give away One 5000 EUR Main Prize 
• The public will vote on the Audience Prize. Winner of the Audience Prize will be invited back next year to present a solo show at their own space during the festival

The Zsolnay Light Art Mapping Competition is free for all visitors, and is recommended for all ages. For further information on the festival program, please visit the festival’s website http://zsolnayfenyfesztival.hu or Facebook page.

About the competition

Theme: COEXISTENCE

Site: Southern facade including the four towers and roof of Pécs Cathedral (see template)

Date of competition: July 7-9, 2023.

About the Competition:

We encourage artists to highlight the public art nature of mapping and consciously utilize its potentials. We prefer quality artistic pieces without clichés and with an original message.

Therefore, we are looking for mappings that meet the following aspects:

• Besides considering and utilizing the potentials of the building’s geometry, the artwork should obviously reflect this year’s theme
• We welcome unusual, peculiar and experimental technical approaches, and support anyone to push the boundaries of mapping’s visual canon

This year’s theme is COEXISTENCE

Coexistence is a system in which different elements independently exist in the same space and time. How stable that state is and how long can it exist in the same format, depends solely on its habitants.

Besides ACCEPTANCE, UNDERSTANDING is also an important part of interactions based on the “LIVE AND LET LIVE” concept. Being connected in space and time leads to various exchanges that develop overtime, resulting in a complex system with a longer life expectancy. 

This phenomenon appears in all areas of life, within relationships between individuals or social groups, cultures, built and natural environment or even machines and neural networks.

To respect the building’s sacred nature and remain politically correct, we discourage including any direct or hidden religious, political and commercial elements in your mapping. 

During the multiple-stage selection process, the Jury will select a maximum of 5 artworks to be presented live. The Competition is open to emerging and established artists, students and professionals – both individual and group applications are accepted. Individuals under the age of 18 may only apply with written parental consent.
 

By registering, applicants automatically accept competition rules.

Prizes: 

• Zsolnay Light Art SHORTLIST €2.000 each
• Zsolnay Light Art Grand Jury Prize €5.000
• Zsolnay Light Art Audience Prize

Competition stages:

1. Application and Project proposal
   Submission deadline: April 3, 2023. 24:00 (CET)
   Longlist announced: April 14, 2023.
    
2. Animatic
   Submission deadline: May 7, 2023. 24:00 (CET)
   Shortlist announced: May 18, 2023.
    

At this stage, the organizer will sign an agreement with the creators of 5 selected projects, which will legally bound creators to finish their project, and organizers to pay a 2000 EUR honorarium after the completed projects are delivered. 

1. Submitting Final Competition Material
   Submission deadline: June 18, 2023. 24:00 (CET)
   Uploading video and audio material of the work to be projected in full resolution according to the technical specifications provided in the competition tender

ATTENTION! The TEMPLATE has been updated; please make sure you are using the new files!

Contestants will be notified via e-mail upon registration and after each stage. If you have any questions, please contact us at lightart@glowingbulbs.com.

We would like to draw the attention of those interested to the fact that in parallel with the Zsolnay Light Art competition, in January 2023 the Route of Light tender was announced, whereby light art installations for Zsolnay Light Festival will be selected. The two tenders are completely separate from each other both in terms of the selection process and the deadlines.

February 17, 2023. Pécs, Hungary