The city of Baltimore, will present the third edition of one of the largest international light festival in the United States from April 14-21, welcoming international artists from around the globe, including UK based art collective, Aether and Hemera.

Aether and Hemera is an internationally renowned art studio based in Newcastle upon Tyne, which produces work that lies at the intersections of contemporary installation, lighting art and interaction design. Founded in the UK in 2008 by media architect Claudio Benghi and light artist Gloria Ronchi thanks to Teesside DigitalCity's support, the multi-disciplinary studio has since flourished ever since, combining light and digital technologies for creating new forms of interactive experiences globally.

For this year festival the north-east studio will present the piece ‘On the Wings of Freedom’, which consists of hundreds illuminated origami butterflies that change colours in real-time based on visitors’ gestures.

 

One month until #LightCity2018 begins at the Inner Harbor, April 14-21.✨ _ New for 2018, the @MyBGE Light Art Walk consists of 21 brand new light installations including On the Wings of Freedom presented by @kpthrive from 2016 returning artists @aetherhemera. On the Wings of Freedom is an interactive installation featuring hundreds of color-changing butterflies providing an extraordinary and immersive experience. As festival-goers walk past, the colors of the butterflies change, symbolizing the transformational powers and creativity of butterflies across all cultures. Learn more. (Link in bio) _ #MyBmore #Baltimore #TheBmoreCreatives #ProudlyBaltimore #AetherHemera

A post shared by Light City (@lightcitybmore) onMar 14, 2018 at 8:56am PDT

Light City will transform Baltimore with world-class light displays, cutting-edge sculptures, video projections on buildings and interactive technologies to create once-in-a-lifetime experiences for families, residents and visitors.

 

Brave new world. #lightcitybaltimore

A post shared by Dave F ◦  Baltimore (@spoticusphotography) onApr 20, 2018 at 1:53pm PDT

It is the second time Aether and Hemera have been invited to present their work in Baltimore; in 2016 they were commissioned to produce Voyage, a flotilla of hundreds of colour changing paper boats floating in the Inner Harbor water.

 

Talk about a throwback ✨. (📷: @joshganzermiller; Voyage by @aetherhemera) #TBT #MyBmore

A post shared by Light City (@lightcitybmore) onNov 2, 2017 at 4:22pm PDT

Gloria Ronchi, Aether and Hemera artist, commented: “Part of what excites us about Light City Baltimore is that we, as artists, will be able to transform the Inner Harbour. We believe that – in the near future – our cities will be filled with art and technology that inspire creativity, offer open access to information and cultivate a sense of identity and community. In our creative practice we combine light, digital technology and physical spaces to produce immersive and emotive headspaces; Light City – being a night-time festival of light and technology – seemed the perfect platform for our explorations”.  Check out the program HERE  

 

It is so nice to hear so many people remembering their experience of our artwork 'Voyage' after 2 years! 😊 . . . #lightart #bmore #lightfestival #rainbow #paperboat #artinstallation #lightinstallation #waterreflection #artwork #london #floatingart #publicart #placemaking #flotilla #origamiboat  #paperfoldingart #rgbled #hundreds #ledart #all_colorshots #water_brilliance, #nightshots #origamiart #designlighting #handmade #contemporaryart

A post shared by Aether & Hemera studio (@aetherhemera) onApr 19, 2018 at 12:45pm PDT