I Light U 2026: 5th edition
We are proud to announce that in 2026 we will be celebrating the 5th edition of I Light U. From 9 January to 1 February 2026, the station area of Utrecht will be transformed into a world of Mirrors, Mirages, Miracles. You will walk past light artworks that play with what you see and what you think you see.
I Light U invites you to feel wonder. About light that behaves like a mirror, about dreams and ideals that become almost tangible, and about small and large miracles in the city. Put on your coat, grab the route and let yourself be carried away on an evening walk where nothing is what it seems.
mirrors, mirages, miracles
This year, we chose a very different theme from last year. The artists’ inspiration now comes from what is not alive, what does not exist, or does it? Do you see what you think you see? Or is it a reflection, a mirror image, or perhaps a mirage? In this exhibition, we explore how the boundary between reality and illusion begins to blur.
The theme for this fifth edition grew out of the sudden, surprising reflections you sometimes catch as you walk through the city. In the past, people attached all kinds of meanings and stories to those kinds of phenomena. The most famous of these is the fata morgana.
Centuries ago, above the Strait of Messina, the stretch of sea between Italy and Sicily, a magical castle was said to appear above the water. People told each other it was a trick by the legendary sorceress Morgan le Fay from the King Arthur stories. This “mirage” was named after the Italian version of Morgan’s name: fata morgana.
A mirage, or luchtspiegeling in Dutch, is a natural optical illusion. It is caused by an extremely hot or cold layer of air that acts like a mirror. Elements from the surrounding environment, a ship sailing kilometres away, the blue sky, appear right in front of you as if they are real. A floating ghost ship on the ocean, a hallucinatory oasis in the desert. All of these are frightening or breathtaking fantasies, shimmering on the horizon, yet never within reach.
What is real and what is not can be hard to tell. Reality and imagination blend into one another. And still, until it disappears, a mirage can also keep us going. It can be a small light in the dark, a paradise somewhere in the future, one day we will get there. From future dream to fever vision, a mirage can take many forms.
That has been the guiding thread in curating this year’s exhibition. The artists have drawn inspiration from the theme in different ways. Let your imagination roam, and discover how our artists have interpreted it.
Bastiaan Schoof, Curator I Light U
brilliance | ALeksandra stratimirovic
Brilliance lets rays of light appear and disappear against a façade on Jaarbeursplein. What is normally a fleeting glimmer becomes a moment to linger over: calm, rhythmic and almost hypnotic.
Dreaming of you | Tine Bech
Dreaming of You depicts soft, luminous clouds that share children’s dreams in colour and sound. The cloud is reflected in the water and feels like a poetic pause between stone, glass and movement.
THE GRID | Studio Ravenhorst, Victor Dissel, Stan Bekker
The Grid transforms part of Jaarbeursplein into a living grid of light. Sixteen columns combine light, sound and movement, creating a constantly shifting landscape of light.
Spica| Juanfuentestudio
Spica brings a star to life in light, movement and sound. The ever-changing shapes draw your gaze, as if you were following a point of light that simultaneously gives direction and remains elusive.
Circle of life | Rob van Houten
Rooted | HKU x I Light U
Rooted reveals what you normally cannot see: the roots of a tree trying to take ground without soil. Using light and sound, the work invites you to pause for a moment, breathe and slow down on the Moreelsebrug.
Analogue gestures |De vrolijkheid x jimi kleinbruinink
Our beating heart | Studio Vertigo
Our Beating Heart displays a massive, glittering heart slowly rotating on Stationsplein. Thousands of reflective light spots move across building facades, the square, and passers-by, making the entire area appear to breathe.
Dwaallicht – Ignis Faatus | Happy Tunnel
Graffiti Utopia | Beeldjutters
Graffiti Utopia projects nine dreams for the future onto the walls of the Sijpesteijn Tunnel. Each image shows a different perspective and invites you to step into someone else’s world for a moment.
Denkendes Auge | Sínoca
Denkendes Auge brings a monumental façade on Sijpesteijnkade to life with colour, light and poetry. The video mapping plays with perception and illusion and feels like a gentle mirage in a place you would normally walk past without a second thought.
ghost town | front404
Ghost Town illuminates spooky animal silhouettes in unexpected places on the City Plaza. Their reflective shapes blend in with the city and briefly reveal a different reality, as if nature is cautiously reclaiming its territory.
Image and Media Technology| HKU x I Light U
Twelve Image and Media Technology students produced short videos linked to the theme of I Light U. Their projects are being shown on screens in and around Hoog Catharijne.
EXISTING LIGHT ART
Rebus| Korrie Besems
Beatrixgebouw
Sunny CLoud | John Körmeling
Utrecht Centraal, centrumzijde
Imagine being there | Martin & Inge Riebeek
Rabobank, Croeselaan
