Signal Festival 2026: Digital Art Transforms Prague
Explore the 14th edition of Prague's Signal Festival, featuring immersive projection mapping, digital art installations, and permanent exhibition spaces.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Signal Festival marks its 14th edition, illuminating Prague with light, sound, and digital art.
- Co-founder Martin Pošta reflects on the 2010 astronomical clock project that sparked it all.
- The debut of Signal Space, a permanent year-round gallery beneath Old Town Market Hall.
- Collaborations with Laterna Magika, a faction of the Czech National Theater.
Prague, Czech Republic, comes alive with luminous installations and digital performances as the 14th edition of Signal Festival unfolds under the theme 'Dream On!'. Co-founder Martin Pošta recently sat down to discuss the origins of the renowned digital art festival, detailing how it evolved from a daring projection mapping experiment into a permanent cultural fixture in the Czech capital.
Before founding the festival, Pošta worked in film and documentaries, attending film school in Prague and organizing local film festivals. Following his time in the television industry, a casual conversation with friends at a local bar in 2010 sparked an ambitious idea: to transform a historic church using projection mapping, a technology still in its absolute infancy back then.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
After discussing the concept with the deputy mayor at the time, the project shifted to the Prague Astronomical Clock (Orloj), which was preparing to celebrate its 600th anniversary. Witnessing an elderly man look up in absolute awe and urge his wife to see the installation left Pošta deeply moved, realizing he had found his true calling in championing new media art.
"I literally got tears in my eyes... it was the moment when I kind of knew that I found my next calling."
Martin Pošta
With early funding secured from the Ministry of Regional Development, Pošta and his collaborators at art group The Macula began commissioning site-specific works from global talents. While projection mapping installations are traditionally ephemeral—vanishing after just four nights—this year marks a major milestone with the opening of Signal Space, a permanent venue under Old Town Market Hall showcasing digital art year-round.
The evolution of Signal Festival highlights how historic European cities can successfully integrate cutting-edge digital technology with architectural heritage. By establishing a permanent venue like Signal Space, the organizers ensure that immersive media art remains accessible beyond the standard four-day festival window, fostering a continuous dialogue between contemporary creators and historic urban spaces.
The 14th edition also features Laterna Magika, a distinct faction of the Czech National Theater known for pioneering illusions created by concealing performers against black stages while illuminating targeted light and video projections. This year, they present a site-specific live performance at the historic Old Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bubeneč, based on a poem by Czech author František Vinant.
Source: designboom
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