The tenth edition of the Signal Festival of digital and creative culture returns to Prague next month, lighting up the city for four days of exhibitions, tech-based displays and performances spread over 14 locations.

The festival – which is the most visited cultural event in the Czech Republic – will take place from October 13th to 16th, featuring work from many artists including world-renowned Turkish new media artist Refik Anadol and Czech designer Maxim Velčovský.

Visitors can visit nine of the 15 exhibitions free of charge, with the remaining displays available with a Signal Plus pass currently available for 240 Kč on the festival’s website. A VIP pass allowing viewers to skip queues at all 15 locations and access food and drink catering is also being sold for 1690 Kč.

Speaking to Prague Morning, Signal Festival director Martin Pošta said the tickets are “very important to support the future of the event”.

“It’s not for profit and it’s very affordable,” he said. “It allows us to keep being creative.”

“We aren’t just promoters of art, we produce it. These works have been created especially for the festival.”

Pošta recommends visitors set aside two nights for the festival as “it’s not possible to do it all in one”. An app with an interactive map of the exhibitions is available free of charge. “Pick a starting point and make your way through,” he said.

The festival has been designed with two routes through the city – one in the centre and one through the up-and-coming Vršovice area in Prague 10, where Signal exhibitions have never been displayed before.

“We’re excited to be exploring a completely new area of the city,” Pošta said.

Included in the city route will be Refik Anadol’s large-format projection, which Pošta described as “Prague data-based art sculpture”.

Analysing large amounts of data provided by the city of Prague, Anadol has produced a “site-specific installation” that will be displayed in the Centre for Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague (CAMP).

The exhibit will be available with Signal Plus and VIP passes.

Anadol is known for his dream-like work designed using algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Another exhibition highlighted by Pošta is Forum Robotum: a “robot safari” designed by engineers from the Czech Technical University in Prague (ČVUT) Faculty of Electrical Engineering, where visitors “will be able to interact with robots in their natural habitat”.

Signal Festival in Holešovice for the first time. The festival of digital and creative culture will take place from Thursday, October 15^th to Sunday, October 18^th.

The eighth year of Signal Festival will present 15 artistic installations to its visitors. As a novelty, a new festival route around Holešovice will add the popular routes through Karlín and the historical recesses of The Old Town.

The umbrella theme of the festival is the hot issue of Plan B. The organizers, together with the visual artists, want to reflect on what they can do for Planet Earth and how to behave sustainably. Simultaneously, many artworks react to this year’s pandemic situation.

This year will present some of the most outstanding Czech artists, such as Milena Dopitová, Jiří Černický or the designer duo Vrtiška & Žák, as well as renowned foreign studios.

Thorough security and hygienic measures consulted with epidemiologists will be employed at all times. 

The festival year 2020 represents new challenges. Signal Festival is planning new locations with limited capacity and a number of measures to ensure maximum safety for its visitors. “The theme of the festival is Plan B. Originally, we had in mind environmental issues, deforestation of the landscape, accumulation of waste, or carbon footprint. However, everything took a new course in the spring of 2020. From the very beginning of the crisis it was clear to us that we wanted to continue with festival preparations and that we wanted it to take place. Security measures have been intensively consulted with leading Czech epidemiologists”, explains festival director Martin Pošta.

The greatest novelty of this year is the new festival route around Holešovice. Among the keenly awaited artworks belongs the magnificent 3D projection by the Spanish studio Onionlab, which will transform the familiar environment of the Industrial Palace at Výstaviště Holešovice into a unique experience.

The festival off program will take place on multiple locations this year. Michal Škapa has prepared a neon installation commemorating the 125^th anniversary of the Prague Market.

On October 17^th and 18^th, Archa Theatre will host an audio-visual performance Vektroskop. The full-length program in Petr Nikl’s scenography will be lighted by Patrik Sedlák’s design and Davida Vrbík’s lasers.

The festival map will be newly available on the festival website. The ticketing system has also been simplified. The four paid installations of the main program located in the Industrial Palace at Výstaviště, Planetárium Praha, Hauch Gallery, and the gardens of St. Agnes Convent can be accessed after the purchase of Signal Pass.

The pass is available for 200 CZK by September 20^th, 2020, from September 21^st, 2020 up to the festival opening for 250 CZK and on the spot for 300 CZK. Several other off program events are charged.

This year we have introduced a family ticket. The festival pass for a family of 2 adults and up to 3 children can now be bought for 600 CZK, after September 21^st for 750 CZK and on the spot for 900 CZK.

 

 

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About Signal Festival:

Signal is a festival of digital and creative culture. It connects contemporary visual art, urban space, and modern technologies. It has become the most visited cultural event in Czechia. The program is composed of renowned foreign and Czech artists from the area od light design, visual and digital art, AI, and conceptual art. The festival enjoys educating itself as well as its visitors. It links the historical backdrop of beloved Prague with state-of-the-art technologies and contemporary social issues.

Signal festival is one of the greatest producers of contemporary art in our country. It supports the youngest generation of local artists and originated the creation of over seventy installations that were created especially for the festival. It organizes side-events for children, professional public, and students. It cooperates with numerous foreign festivals and cultural institutions.