Decemberlicht
until 4 January
With Decemberlicht (December Light), the duo Kroft & Smids bring light to the dark days around Christmas and the New Year, using projections to transform buildings at various locations in Leeuwarden’s city centre into places where stories are told — through words or images.
Kroft & Smids consists of Karina Kroft and Remko Smids. When everything came to a standstill during the first COVID lockdown in the spring of 2020, Karina Kroft and Remko Smids projected the towering text “Only in darkness can you see the stars” onto a residential building in Leeuwarden. This first gesture marked the beginning of a series of seventy consecutive evenings featuring hopeful projections at various locations in and around Leeuwarden. A new love was born: light projections in public spaces, created to encourage, surprise and move people.
Since that first spontaneous action on 28 March 2020, they have realised a wide range of projects, including daily projections for the Jonge Harten Festival in Groningen (2021 and 2022), Midzomernachtlicht, a series of ten projections created within the framework of Bosklab (2022), and two Praamverhalen: Peer Gynt (2021) and King Lear (2023). …
Kroft & Smids consists of Karina Kroft and Remko Smids. When everything came to a standstill during the first COVID lockdown in the spring of 2020, Karina Kroft and Remko Smids projected the towering text “Only in darkness can you see the stars” onto a residential building in Leeuwarden. This first gesture marked the beginning of a series of seventy consecutive evenings featuring hopeful projections at various locations in and around Leeuwarden. A new love was born: light projections in public spaces, created to encourage, surprise and move people.
Since that first spontaneous action on 28 March 2020, they have realised a wide range of projects, including daily projections for the Jonge Harten Festival in Groningen (2021 and 2022), Midzomernachtlicht, a series of ten projections created within the framework of Bosklab (2022), and two Praamverhalen: Peer Gynt (2021) and King Lear (2023). At the end of 2022, Kroft & Smids went international when they created the Nobel Light Walk for Nobel Week Lights in Stockholm, during the week leading up to the Nobel Prize ceremonies. In early 2024, Kroft & Smids created routes under the name Winterljocht in Harlingen, Sloten and Dokkum, with a continuation planned for early 2025 in Heerenveen, Hindeloopen and Franeker. Over the past two years, they also served as artistic directors for the light festival Licht op Drachten, for which they created several spatial light artworks.
TIP! Follow the blue lantern light…
