Light artwork for Leuven Town Hall

In brief

• Commission One-off, temporary light artwork, projected onto the scaffolding canvas of Leuven Town Hall

• Presentation period: Wintertijd, from 8 December 2026 to 10 January 2027
• Budget: € 50,000, including VAT and production costs
• Participation: Process with young people (aged 12–25) from Shift, a digital youth centre in the Schouwburg of Leuven
• Application deadline: 1 September 2026

Who is issuing this call?

This open call is a collaboration between three partners:

• City of Leuven – The 15th-century Gothic town hall of Leuven has been closed since the autumn of 2025 for a thorough restoration. In 2029 it will reopen as the Town Hall – European House for Democracy: a shared meeting place for the people of Leuven and visitors, and one of the highlights of Leuven as European Capital of Culture 2030.
• LOV2030 – Leuven & Beyond — the title under which Leuven and the thirty municipalities of East Brabant were designated European Capital of Culture 2030 in 2025. Under the concept HumanNature, LOV2030 uses culture to build a warmer, more connected region, around the pillars Human, Nature and Innovation.
• Shift – a digital and creative youth centre in the Schouwburg of Leuven, an initiative of Link in de Kabel in collaboration with 30CC. Young people aged 12 to 25 experiment there free of charge with digital media and technology – from 3D printing to VR and AI – with a strong focus on social inclusion and an accessible introduction to art and culture.

Context

From the summer of 2026, the Gothic Town Hall of Leuven will be covered in scaffolding for the major restoration works. The scaffolding will be fitted with a canvas bearing a realistic photo print of the façade. (See photo below.) During Wintertijd, the City of Leuven wants to temporarily light up the town hall with a light sculpture. Wintertijd is Leuven’s annual end-of-year festival, featuring among other things the Leuven Christmas Market, the illuminated Winter Garden in front of the town hall, a light art trail, concerts and the New Year’s drink as the closing event — an atmospheric winter experience for the people of Leuven and visitors. The light artwork must offer artistic added value and be accessible. It must contribute to the warm, convivial atmosphere the city radiates during this period. In this way, it becomes an accessible, visually powerful addition to the winter city experience. Alongside the final result, we attach equal importance to the process leading up to it: through Shift, we actively involve young people in the development and realisation of the work. This is a one-off, temporary commission, developed specifically for the town hall.

The commission

Artistic end product

We are looking for a light sculpture that is aesthetically and conceptually strong, while also being visually appealing and accessible to a broad audience. The work may start from a specific theme or historical context, but the emphasis is on visual power, atmosphere and experience. A strong visual and spatial relationship with the town hall is essential:

• the artwork engages in dialogue with the architecture, the façade and/or the sculptural elements of the building;
• the town hall is an active carrier and part of the artwork, not a neutral backdrop.

This relationship with the building may be interpreted in an entirely visual and abstract way. Technical simplicity and feasibility are important, as is respect for the surroundings and the public space. The work must be able to stand on its own. If interaction with the audience fits within the artist’s artistic vision, it can be an added value – but it is not a requirement.

The process: together with the young people of Shift

With Shift, Leuven has an important player that enables young people to experiment with digital media. We want to draw on their expertise and the community they have built to develop a participatory process in which young people help create the artwork for the town hall. The result is a work made not only for, but also by and with, the people of Leuven. The form of this participatory process may vary: we are open to different ways of collaborating, in terms of both intensity and form, as long as the participating young people experience a real sense of involvement and co-ownership of the project. Shift’s digital youth workers will guide the artist in this process and motivate the young people to take an active part. The details of the process will be shaped in consultation, but the artist should formulate an initial proposal in the application file. Bear in mind Shift’s way of working: the threshold is deliberately kept very low, with no registrations or fixed workshops, free walk-in and walk-out, and no obligations.

Find more information about Shift here.

Budget

A budget of € 50,000 is available for this commission, including VAT and production costs. The precise allocation of the budget will be worked out by mutual agreement.

Submission and selection

The selection takes place in two rounds.

Round 1 – Application file and portfolio

Candidates submit an application file explaining their project (max. 15 pages, excluding appendix). The file answers the following questions:

1. Artistic vision for the artwork. What are the theme and atmosphere of the artwork? How does the work relate to the town hall and, by extension, the historic city centre? What is its relationship with the audience?
2. Artistic vision for the process. What role do you see for the young people of Shift? How will you ensure that the young people feel ownership and involvement? How do you want to work with them, and how does that translate into a concrete working format? How will you ensure that one young person can easily make a small contribution, while another makes a larger one?
3. Initial outline of the technical production. What is technically necessary for the development of the project? Outline its feasibility. (See appendix for more information about the location and specific technical conditions.)

Include as an appendix an example of a previously realised project, including its technical plan and budget.

Round 2 – Interview

The selected candidates will be invited to an (online) interview consisting of two parts:

• a presentation (10 minutes) in which the artist(s) present the project;
• questions and answers (20 minutes).

Timing

• Deadline for submitting the application file: 1 September 2026
• Interviews: Week of 14 September 2026
• Announcement: 1 October 2026
• Delivery: To be determined, before the start of Wintertijd
• Presentation: Wintertijd (8 December 2026-10 January 2027)

Questions and submission

For questions about this project, please email: stadhuis@leuven.be
Questions about how Shift operates: florian@lidk.be or 0456/72.57.87
You can also submit your application file by email to stadhuis@leuven.be

Annex

Appendix 1: Photo of the Town Hall facade

An image of the façade in scaffolding during the installation of the first part of the site canvas, showing the current situation. This summer the canvas will be completed across the full width, with an additional section at the bottom to the left and right of the entrance door (not visible in this photo).

Bijlage 2: Plan of the Grote Markt

Production and projection equipment can be placed on the Grote Markt, between the planting bed around the tree, Saint Peter’s Church and the red line on the plan below — an imaginary line marking the boundary for temporary structures without disrupting through
traffic or safety on the square. The space occupied may therefore be approximately 8 m x 6 m at most. This measurement is an estimate based on plans; for definitive planning, exact measurements must be taken on site and a detailed plan drawn up by the contractor. If projection or production space is needed in other locations (from a different angle, from a height, from Saint Peter’s Church, etc.), this must always be discussed with the project coordinator and the relevant departments or institutions.