Signal Festival 2026: International Programme
“This year, we’re bringing works by some of the true giants of digital and technology-driven art to Prague, including Jim Campbell and Laurie Anderson,” says Pavel Mrkus, Chief Curator of Signal Festival.
From legendary pioneers to bold innovators, international programme of Signal Festival 2026 brings together artists who are constantly pushing the boundaries of technology, light and contemporary art.
Discover a selection of their works below — and experience six of the eleven international installations in the festival’s paid Signal INSIDE zone.
1,500 Light Bulbs and a Touch of Magic → Jim Campbell
American artist Jim Campbell is a pioneer in turning computer technology into an artistic medium. His monumental installation Scattered Light will be one of the largest works ever presented at Signal Festival — and one whose magic reveals itself slowly.
At first, all you see is darkness filled with thousands of flickering lights, like a vast constellation suspended in space. But look closer and human figures begin to emerge. As you move around the installation, the image falls apart, shifts and reforms, creating an ever-changing illusion that plays with the way we see and perceive the world.
Campbell draws on footage of people moving through Grand Central Station in New York, transforming their two-dimensional images into a striking three-dimensional installation.
Following its premiere at New York’s Madison Square Park, Scattered Light comes to General Lázaro Cárdenas Park in Prague, where light, architecture and nature will become part of the work itself.
What Will the World Look Like in 10,000 Years? → Timo Lejeune
What might remain of us thousands of years from now? Dutch audiovisual artist, innovator and lighting designer Timo Lejeune explores the question in Dreaming Infinite, an immersive vision of the distant future.
A central monolith and a series of smaller sculptures explore the tension between the fleeting nature of technology and our desire to leave something behind for future generations. An evolutionary algorithm continuously generates new shapes, symbols and soundscapes. No two moments are ever the same.
The work evolves in real time, creating new formations throughout the festival.
You’ll find Dreaming Infinite inside the Church of St. Simon and St. Jude, where the ornate Baroque interior will meet a constantly evolving vision of technology.
Timo Lejeune will also join us on Sunday, 18 October, for a hands-on Signal Lab workshop. He’ll share the creative approach behind large-scale installations developed by his studio, Lumus Instruments.
Videomapping with a Message from Václav Havel → Svitlana Reinish
Ukrainian media artist and theatre and costume designer Svitlana Reinish spent several months in Prague after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now she brings to the city a powerful videomapping work that brings a centuries-old landmark face to face with an urgent message for the present.
Projected onto the tower of the Old Town Hall, Living in Truth brings words such as Truth, Freedom, Justice, Love and Democracy to life — only to see them gradually distorted and torn apart by a cold, destructive force. Then, from the darkness, new colours and a sense of hope begin to emerge.
Inspired by Václav Havel’s ideas in The Power of the Powerless, the work is a reminder that truth can be one of the most powerful forms of resistance.
The experience will be accompanied by music from Ukrainian composer and electronic music producer Anton Dehtiarov, who weaves motifs from Bedřich Smetana’s The Moldau into the soundtrack.
We would like to thank Prague City Tourism for making the Old Town Hall available for the installation. With the official Prague Visitor Pass, you can make the most of your festival experience from morning until evening, with admission to more than 70 Prague landmarks, museums and galleries, unlimited public transport and free entry to Signal Space.
A Chamber of Light → ENCOR Studio
Swiss ENCOR Studio brings together light, sound, architecture and technology to create immersive environments that challenge the way we experience physical space.
For Alcove LTD, an upcycled shipping container becomes a mysterious chamber of light. Its glass walls are covered with liquid crystal films that can shift seamlessly from transparent to opaque. Inside, smoke, light, shadows and abstract shapes appear and disappear.
You’ll never quite know what you’re looking at — or whether you’re seeing something inside or merely its reflection.
The installation will be located in Republic Square, in front of Palladium Shopping Centre, patron of the installation.
A Journey to the Moon → Laurie Anderson & Hsin-Chien Huang
American artist Laurie Anderson has long been at the forefront of bringing technology into art, blurring the boundaries between music, performance and visual art. Taiwanese artist Hsin-Chien Huang works across new media, exploring the connections between technology and art, literature, design and theatre.
Together, they created the immersive projection To the Moon, an otherworldly journey far beyond Earth.
You’ll travel through constellations of endangered species, landscapes made of DNA and fields of technological debris. Along the way, you’ll encounter a fossilised rose drifting through space.
Blending mythology, science and science fiction, this journey through the cosmos unfolds at X10 Theatre, beneath the functionalist building of the House of Arts and Crafts.
And That’s Not All
- Aka Chang will use lasers to turn the surface of the Vltava into a giant mirror.
- The façade of the Archbishop’s Seminary will become the canvas for a geometric videomapping work by Felix Franke.
- In the Mirror Chapel of the Clementinum, Gábor Kitzinger, András László Nagy and Rozi Mákó will create unique compositions of light, sound and movement in response to visitors.
- International collective Media.tribe will transform the entrance hall of the Faculty of Law into a dynamic play of light.
- Kurt Hentschläger will plunge visitors into complete darkness at Savarin Riding School.
- At Hybernská Campus, you’ll be able to bring Ján Šicko’s Sound Robot to life.
Discover the full local and international programme of Signal Festival 2026 HERE.
Signal Festival’s international programme is made possible with the support of the PPF Foundation. Hotel partner: Fairmont Golden Prague.