Showlight 2025 announces first speakers

Showlight is extremely excited to announce the first of its speakers who will present Papers in May.

The selection draws from a mixture of lighting disciplines covering site specific installations, mixed lighting challenges, product innovation and circus spectaculars with speakers, new and familiar, travelling to Dijon to be part of at this exceptional networking quadrennial.

Here’s the first of what the Showlight 2025 line-up has to offer:

The Magic of Cirque du Soleil

Mikki Kunttu will explain how he turns magic into reality as the lighting & set designer and programmer for a number of spectacular Cirque du Soleil shows.

The Power of Light – From Myth to Science to Control

Anne Militello will examine how lighting techniques used today to stir emotional reactions, date back centuries to when man first incorporated light into ritual. From narratives based in mythology and science, these techniques were later adapted with technology to induce awe, ecstasy and fear as a more efficient way to exert power and control.

Though Dusk into Darkness

Simon Corder will present some musings on design practice, working with daylight becoming night, the natural marriage of set and lighting design, long-throw follow spots, and not being fully in control…using his work at the Hedeland Arena in Denmark as an example.

MAYRIT. Light and Vibration

Ezequiel Nobili, from the Spanish lighting association (AAI) will engage us with a site-specific work for the LuzMadrid 2023 Festival which used olfactory, tactile, visual and auditory devices to create a multisensory experience to leave a lasting mark in the memory of the audience.

The Role of Dynamic Lighting in Two Iconic Milanese Sites: The Cathedral and the Shoah Memorial.

Marco Miglioli examines how lighting in architecture transcends the mere function of illuminating spaces, changing and guiding visitors through their journey. Much like in theatre, it creates different scenes evoking emotions and memory.

Creating Light Without Electricity…and an 828m facelift

David Gray will take us on a journey through fictitious worlds where the original IP has no ‘electricity’, bring us custom character fixtures created for the Smurfs, Kung Fu Panda and Shrek, and finish with the construction challenges and recent control upgrade of the 1000 exterior strobe installation on the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

The Showlight Papers Committee continues to work its way through an entertaining swathe of submissions but is always looking for more. If you have an idea or a project to present, the organisers would love to hear from you. Drop them a brief outline here: papers@showlight.org

More speakers will be added to the website in the coming weeks and months – keep checking in herewww.showlight.org/speakers to find out more, or join the Showlight Mailing List (www.showlight.org) to be amongst the first to know.

Showlight takes place from 19^th – 22^nd May 2025 at Le Parc des Expositions et Congrès de Dijon.