"Media art is here"
The SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE Light Festival does not only take place at the castle, but also presents light and media art in urban spaces in collaboration with the exhibition Media art is here, offering an interactive experience free of charge. In 2019, Karlsruhe was awarded the title ‘Creative City of Media Arts’ by UNESCO and accepted into the international Creative Cities Network.
RADICAL CLIMATE ACTION BIRD, 2025
The artist Dennis Siering transforms the melodies of anti-fascist protest songs into artificial birdsong. These sounds are played in public places. Native birds, such as blackbirds, hear the sounds and try to imitate them. In this way, the project shows how different species can communicate with each other and at the same time encourages reflection on the growing nationalism in our society.
Location: Castle Gardens Every afternoon, see cityofmediaarts.de for exact times.
LAWN CENTRIFUGE, 2022–2025
A rotating piece of lawn. Buried beneath the grass, a platform with a five-metre-diameter grass slab rotates. The rotation alters our perception of gravity: the grass grows outwards, forming a unique pattern. The artwork shows how plants react to changes in gravity, encourages us to think about gardening in space, and confuses our sense of space and direction.
Location: Botanical Garden Opening hours: In August daily until approx. 10 p.m., in September until approx. 9 p.m.
LAGRANGE, 2025 
The visual work explores a dynamic balance in space – inspired by celestial bodies that move freely yet remain connected. With the help of a particle system, a flowing coexistence of chaos and order is created.
Location: Kinemathek Karlsruhe, Kaiserpassage 6 Opening hours: Daily from 8:30 p.m. in August, from 8 p.m. in September
LE TAXI POUR L'AVENIR HEUREUX
The project showcases the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals for a better world in an impressive AI-generated video mapping at the SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE. Accompanying this, exhibitions at the ZKM, the Tourist Information Centre, on Schlossplatz and in the dm store on Europaplatz provide exciting insights into each individual goal. The surreal images of the projection are complemented by background information, artistic contributions and vivid presentations – encouraging people to think about global challenges and get involved in creating a sustainable future.
Location:
dm store, Kaiserstrasse 146 (Monday–Saturday, 8 a.m.–8 p.m.)
Tourist Information, Kaiserstrasse 72–74 (Monday–Friday 9:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.)
SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE (castle light shows), Schlossplatz (for show times, see www.schlosslichtspiele.info/programm)
FLORA MOMENTUM, 2025
As part of the City Transformation initiative, Stephanplatz is becoming a place for encounters, reflection and community. The FLORA MOMENTUM installation displays AI-generated images of medicinal plants by Hannah Cooke. These hybrid plants alternate between natural and organic forms and, depending on the angle from which they are viewed, reveal new, sometimes strange structures. With inclusive, integrated seating, the installation invites visitors to linger.
Location: Stephanplatz
FRAGMENTS OF REALITY, 2015–2025
Fragments of Reality is a site-specific art installation. The kinetic, sustainable work uses small mirrors and the wind to reflect the surroundings, natural light during the day and artificial light from public lamps at night around the historic department store façade of GALERIA. This creates constantly changing light images. This interplay of visibility and invisibility creates a delicate, magical and contemplative atmosphere.
Location: GALERIA Karlsruhe, Kaiserstr. 147 - 159 With the kind support of GALERIA
STELLAR SANCTUARY (2025)
For ten years, Maxin10sity's impressive projection mappings have been thrilling audiences at the SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE Light Festival. This year, Maxin10sity is breaking new ground and creating a walk-in world of light and sound in the Evangelical City Church on the market square with Stellar Sanctuary. Visitors can immerse themselves in a fascinating atmosphere that feels almost like another reality – shaped solely by light and sound.
Location: Protestant Town Church on the Market Square
Opening hours:
In August: daily (except 17 August) from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. In September: daily from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (on 5 and 12 September from approx. 8:00 p.m. following Lichtgedanken).
Accompanying programme:
As at the castle, the week also begins with music in the Protestant town church. Every Monday, KLANGKALEIDOSKOP presents musicians before Stellar Sanctuary begins. On two Fridays in September, you are invited to Lichtgedanken, evening meditations in the light of the installation.
Monday, 18 August 2025, 7:30 p.m.
duo in progress
Leslie Thomé – flute & alto flute | Frank Thomé – marimba, archaic sounds – flute and drum in dialogue. The duo in Progress plays with the contrasts of rhythm and melody, breath and impulse. New music, arrangements, plenty of room for the unheard – transparent, precise and full of joy of discovery.
Monday, 25 August 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Chinese guqin tradition and jazzy piano sounds come together in a delicate musical dialogue – calm, intense and inspired by world music. Renowned guqin player Cheng Hongyu and her piano partner are considered musical bridge builders between East and West.
Monday, 1 September 2025, 6:30 p.m.
Peter Lehel, solo saxophone A saxophone, a breath fills the church with vibrations, sounds and music.
Monday, 8 September 2025, 6:30 p.m.
Die LiBellen
Anna Toró – flute | Eveline Dittmer – violin | Carola Herz – saxophone | Erina Beutelspacher – piano The dragonfly symbolises elegance, vitality, courage and creativity and is considered a networker in nature. Inspired by this idea, the musicians see their artistic approach as an invitation to encounters – between people, sounds and cultures.
Thoughts on Light – Evening meditation in the light of the Stellar Sanctuary installation
Friday, 5 September 2025, 7:30 p.m.
With Pastor Claudia Rauch, texts, and Christian-Markus Raiser, music
Friday, 12 September 2025, 7:30 p.m.
With Pastor Claudia Rauch, texts, and the Christoph Georgii Trio
NO LONGER NOT YET, 2024–2025 
The bed is a familiar and symbolic space – a house within a house, characterised by intimacy, a symbol of the inner world. It serves as a threshold, a place of transition from one state of being to another. Divided into two halves, it becomes a place of tension, where a choreography of attraction and repulsion unfolds. The halves never quite meet, remaining suspended between what was and what is yet to come.
Location: TRIANGEL Transfer I Culture I Space, Kaiserstrasse 93
SUBSTANCE – IMAGINAT – DELTA, 2025 
Chiharu Koda is collaborating with various artists at studio hö to develop three interactive projects. These projects bring together nature, technology and urban life. The presentation shows water that changes through sound, drawings enhanced by artificial intelligence and sculptures controlled by algorithms.
Location: studio hö, Kaiserstrasse 3 Opening hours: Thursday, 21 August and 11 September, 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.; additional appointments by arrangement: chiharu.koda.s_at_gmail.com
TREESPOTTING AR, 2025
Treespotting AR brings Cesare Leonardis' botanical studies into the digital present. A tree in Karlsruhe is scanned in 3D to create a point cloud – a ‘digital twin’ that raises questions about the perception of nature in urban spaces. The installation combines art, technology and the environment to create a new perspective on trees – and continues Leonardis' legacy in a playful and experimental way.
Location: Fairground
