TURIN.- Luci d’Artista, the most prestigious and historic public art project in Italy, officially opened its twenty-ninth edition on October 23. It was established in 1998 by the City of Turin, founded on the belief that art should contribute to the common good and inhabit the city’s streets, squares, and buildings: a public collection of large-scale installations integrated into Turin’s urban fabric by leading international artists.

The city’s sky comes alive with 31 luminous installations, enriched this year by three new works by CANEMORTO, Flavio Favelli and Tony Oursler, whose pieces will become part of the collection, along with a special project by Samson Young made in collaboration with OGR Torino.

The trio CANEMORTO presents The Radiant Van. The artwork is an ironic tribute to two of Turin’s great myths: car manufacturing and magical energies. Eighteen lucky charms borrowed from cultures across the globe, engraved on the sides of a van and illuminated from within, transform the vehicle into a large mobile generator of positive energy. From October 30 to November 1, The Radiant Van will be on display at Artissima. This project is supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture under the Italian Council program (14th edition, 2025), with the aim of promoting Italian contemporary art internationally.

The materials used by the artist Flavio Favelli for Poetiche del confine are iron artefacts salvaged from the rubble of Turin after the bombings of World War II. The work weaves together memory and matter, past and present, breathing new life into objects that still bear the marks of history and bringing to light the wounded body of the city. For Favelli, the reuse of wrought-iron gates, grilles and railings also becomes a reflection on boundaries, transforming them from elements of separation into matter and form. The work’s location at the Royal Museums of Turin (Piazzetta Reale) underscores its character as a monument belonging to the Turin community, bringing the ornamentation and beauty of the ironwork into dialogue with the city’s elegance.

Star*(life), the light installation by the great master Tony Oursler, tells of the magic of the universe, the poetry of scientific and technological research, and the search for life in space as a journey within ourselves, a journey often guided by dreams and vision. We often think of outer space as something “alien”, although we are actually made of the same matter as the stars and planets. The video projections will interact with the façade of the Politecnico di Torino headquarters. The artist has been invited to engage in dialogue with Turin’s university of architecture, design and technology for his revolutionary use of video projection and his experience working with renowned architects. The artwork has been created in partnership with the Politecnico di Torino.

The historic collaboration with OGR Torino continues to grow with a special project conceived for the monumental courtyard of the complex. In Inversions, Samson Young brings into dialogue two elements deeply tied to Hong Kong’s cultural history: the Kam Tin Tree House, a historic building gradually enveloped by the aerial roots of a Chinese banyan, and footage from one of the earliest classics of martial arts cinema.

The 29th edition of Luci d’Artista, curated by Antonio Grulli, includes: Andreas Angelidakis, Giovanni Anselmo, Valerio Berruti, Daniel Buren, Chiara Camoni, CANEMORTO, Nicola De Maria, Gintaras Didžiapetris, Tracey Emin, Flavio Favelli, Marco Gastini, Piero Gilardi, Giorgio Griffa, Jeppe Hein, Rebecca Horn, Alfredo Jaar, Joseph Kosuth, Renato Leotta, Luigi Mainolfi, Mario Merz, Mario Molinari, Luigi Ontani, Tony Oursler, Giulio Paolini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Riccardo Previdi, Vanessa Safavi, Luigi Stoisa, Grazia Toderi, Samson Young, Gilberto Zorio.

Each year the project is joined by the collateral lights created by institutions gathered in the Costellazione section, the rich Public Programme titled Accademia della Luce, and the international collaborations of Duet.

Curated by Antonio Grulli