The Light_Art_Experience (LAX) is a large-scale artistic project that has been established at the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig since 2021. With its unique performance of large-scale image projection onto the monument’s vast façade, it occupies a distinctive position within Germany’s cultural scene. The creative focus of the artists is on artistic interpretations of civic and social issues. LAX explicitly does not see itself as a commercial event, but as an initiative by committed people from the heart of society to give the issues of our time space and visibility through the means of art and to invite shared discourse. In this context, the location of Leipzig/Saxony in eastern Germany has a particular significance and urgency: the growing fears of loss felt by many people and a diffuse sense of “being left behind”, combined with the polycrises surrounding us, fuel anti-democratic resentments and weaken pluralism as well as open, tolerant coexistence among many different people. The group confronts this threat with courage and commitment: with a strong focus on communal participation, all interested parties are invited to support the Light_Art_Experience with their work and their civic engagement. To this end, LAX develops collaborations with socio-cultural groups, associations and organisations from a wide range of backgrounds, offering them a platform for democratic expression and programmatic debate.
Following the great success of the events in 2021 and 2022, and the attention they also received from international cultural institutions, the artists ventured beyond the regional sphere and, under the leading motto “Global Village: The World, Your Village”, sought international networking for the first time. With the Gasteig (Munich) and the Citadel of Saladin (Cairo/Egypt), the first supra-regional cultural venues have already joined LAX. Further locations are invited and can become part of the network. The terms “peaceful coexistence”, “community cohesion” and “solidarity-based togetherness” are at the heart of the artistic and integrative concept.
Among those taking part are: antiwarcoalition.art and YermilovCentre Kharkiv, as well as Paul Altmann.
