As Events Expand, We Return to the Core Concept

Smart Illumination Yokohama is a festival of light that creates a new Yokohama nightscape by fusing art with essential energy-saving technologies for the future, such as LED lighting and solar power. Artists from Japan and abroad participate, showcasing a diverse range of light-based art, including the illumination of historic buildings and interactive installations and workshops.

This year marks the fourth iteration, with the theme "Primary Light: Light in Dialogue." Smart Illumination Yokohama was born in the year of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Behind it lay the importance of installing new environmental technologies in the city, the potential of art as a medium, and a reflection on the overly bright urban landscapes of modern times. Smart Illumination Yokohama 2014 returns to these origins, presenting content that focuses on the fundamental relationship between cities and light, and between people and light, creating a space for rich dialogue between people and the city.



This year, the event is also part of the "East Asian Cultural City 2014 Yokohama" initiative, in collaboration with Quanzhou City, China, and Gwangju Metropolitan City, South Korea. Artists from Japan, China, and South Korea will gather to present a variety of illumination programs, including environmental performance-based projects and interactive works that allow visitors to experience "light play."

Furthermore, as part of a wider expansion across Yokohama, the event will be held not only in the Yokohama central coastal area centered around the Zounohana Park and the Minato Mirai 21 district, but also in Midori, Kanazawa, Tsurumi, and Izumi wards. Citizen groups, companies, and universities in each area will take the lead in organizing illumination programs tailored to their local characteristics. The awards ceremony held in conjunction with the event will also be expanded into an international event, presented as the "Future City Yokohama Smart Illumination Award 2014."



Smart Illumination Yokohama Executive Committee Secretariat
Tel. 045-633-9660