Avinguda de la Meridiana and many of the facilities located around Plaça de les Glòries, from the DHub to the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya and the Auditori, define the Blue Itinerary of Llum BCN, which includes thirteen installations near public transport and which are the work of both invited artists and schools and educational centres. 

The tour begins at the Llanterna de L’Auditori, with a visit to the installation Rising, a creation by Mouawad + Laurier (the artist duo Maya Mouawad and Cyril Laurier). It is an immersive experience that reflects on the rising sea level using the hypnotic beauty of water.

Nearby, in the courtyard of the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, an illuminator that all theatre directors compete for, Laura Clos ‘Closca’, has filled a space with conveniently illuminated vehicles, in a reproduction of a jam, perhaps a metaphor for the accelerated and dazzling life that we all live. It is Traffic Jam Zoom. 

Go to the Plaça de Joan Antoni Coderch and you can see Loop, created by Olivier Girouard, Jonathan Villeneuve & Ottoblix and inspired by those early cinematic devices known as zoetropes. The problem is that, here, the zoetrope is big, so big that there is a person inside.

At DHub, Rosa Tharrats has prepared, in collaboration with Sorigué Foundation, Fosfènica, a precise luminous score. In this sculptural installation, the artist transforms the space into a dreamlike landscape and places light, movement and matter in dialogue.

However, if you want to see one of the great stars of Llum BCN, you have to stop in front of the façade of the DHUb that overlooks Plaça de Santiago Pey. There you will see Gènesi.IA, Joan Fontcuberta’s installation created with the sponsorship of Integrated System Europe – ISE in which an artificial intelligence converts images projected in the building into… the words of the biblical Genesis.

At Torre Glòries, the artist Anna Rierola uses colour as if it were a universal language in a work sponsored by Mirador Torre Glòries. She explores the connectivity and flows of the oceanic network in Okeanós, an installation that turns the building into a Greek titan. Do you want to see a vertical garden? Then don’t miss MØSS, Martina Ampuero‘s creation in Tànger, 60, which fuses nature and technology.

So far, some of the great artists of light invited to Llum BCN, but the city’s schools and learning centres have a lot to say in this festival. You can see this if you come and see the installations created by the students of the Escola Massana outside the Auditori. It is called Llums d’emergència (Emergency Lights) and is made up of light structures in the shape of cars facing a large screen. Here they talk about private vehicles and pollution.

In the gardens of Teatre Nacional de Catalunya you will also find an installation by the students of the Institut del Teatre entitled Parc Nacional de Catalunya. It is a phantasmagorical proposal that talks about the asphyxia of public spaces that are increasingly commercialised.

The students of Escola Superior d’Art i Disseny de Catalunya – Campus Llotja have created an impact installation (once again a car, but now in flames) in Protesta encesa, a reflection on the transformation of the neighbourhood that you can see at Ratés. Finally, at Sancho d’Àvila, 65, LCI Barcelona presents Distorsió de la realitat, a scene of chaos and mistrust.

You will finish the itinerary at the Yamaha Light Meeting Point, in Plaça de Joan Antoni Coderch, where you will see the installation sponsored by Yamaha, Nexusvision. Between architecture and sensory experience, the project explores and celebrates human interaction.

The first stop on Ruta Blava will take you to Constel-lacions. This light installation created by Goula Figuera Studio commemorates the tenth anniversary of Disseny Hub Barcelona and is part of the +Llum programme. A four-metre high tree of light evokes the diversity of disciplines that are dealt with in this building.

Remember that three of the proposed itineraries include a service area for taking a break, with restaurants, toilets and an information point. You will find them next to the DHub, in front of the MediaTIC and in the gardens of Camí Antic de València, respectively.

If you want to enjoy Llum BCN programme, come and visit the Sant Martí district to see the installations, but first check the website for all the information you need.