From illuminated tiered structures at Durga puja pandals and wedding entrances to lit-up floating lanterns, the ebb and flow of photic patterns continue to fascinate the child in this writer. Like fiery dandelions and starbursts — that glimmer within shut eyes — they guide her home. Light carnivals around the world have evolved in a ritualistic climate. Be it Loi Krathong in Thailand, the Festival of Lights in France, the Pingxi Lantern fiesta in China or Diwali in India, the celebrations symbolise expressions of gratefulness, the commemoration of a community’s safekeepers, peace, and the victory of good over evil. But can light installations fuel artistic articulation beyond these consistent contexts? Can an audience’s engagement with light transcend the visual? Floating Canvas Company, a platform centred on the intersection between art and design, presents ROW by TUNDRA to seek answers to such pertinent questions.

The installation at Criatech Festival (October 2020) inside Capela de Jesus in Portugal