Organizer Information
This open call is issued jointly by three partners. The City of Leuven's 15th-century Gothic town hall has been closed since autumn 2025 for a thorough restoration and is set to reopen in 2029 as "Stadhuis – European House for Democracy," conceived as a shared meeting place for residents and visitors and one of the flagship sites of Leuven's year as European Capital of Culture 2030.
The second partner, LOV2030 – Leuven & Beyond, is the title under which Leuven and thirty municipalities in East Brabant were named European Capital of Culture 2030, announced by the European jury on 24 September 2025 at the Royal Library in Brussels. The winning concept, HumanNature, builds on years of preparation and already includes 70 project ideas and hundreds of Belgian and European partners, structured around the three pillars of Human, Nature, and Innovation, responding to themes such as polarisation, the climate crisis, and the need for connection. LOV stands for Lovanium, the Latin name for Leuven, and also references "love," reflecting the team's stated mission of building radical new connections for a better future for the city and the wider region.
The third partner, Shift, is a digital and creative youth center based in the Schouwburg (theatre) of Leuven, an initiative of Link in de Kabel in collaboration with 30CC, where young people aged 12–25 experiment for free with digital media and technology — from 3D printing to VR and AI — with a strong focus on social inclusion and low-threshold introductions to art and culture.
Title & Description
Light Artwork for the Leuven Town Hall
The City of Leuven, LOV2030, and Shift are seeking an artist or artist collective to create a new, temporary light artwork projected onto the construction hoarding of Leuven's historic town hall, to be presented during Wintertijd, the city's annual end-of-year winter period. The work is to be developed through a participatory process involving young people from Shift, the digital youth center based in Leuven's Schouwburg.
From summer 2026, the Gothic front porch of the town hall will be enclosed in scaffolding for major restoration works, covered with a construction hoarding bearing a realistic photo print of the façade. During Wintertijd — which also includes the Leuven Christmas Market, the illuminated Wintertuin in front of the town hall, a light art trail, concerts, and a New Year's toast — the city wants to temporarily light up the town hall with this artwork. The piece must offer artistic added value while remaining accessible, contributing to the warm, convivial atmosphere the city projects during this period. Equal importance is placed on the process leading to the final result: through Shift, young people are to be actively involved in developing and shaping the work, so that the piece is made not only for but also by the people of Leuven.
Theme
No fixed thematic brief is prescribed; the light artwork may draw on a specific theme or historical layering at the artist's discretion, but the emphasis is on visual strength, atmosphere, and experience, developed in a strong visual and spatial relationship with the town hall's architecture, façade, and sculptural elements — the town hall must function as an active carrier of the work, not a neutral backdrop.
Categories
- Light Art
- Public Art
- Installation
- Site-specific
- Technology
- New Media
- Interdisciplinary Arts
Eligibility
- Open to an individual artist or an artist collective
- No nationality, age, or career-stage restriction stated for the applying artist(s)
- The applicant must formulate, within the dossier, an initial proposal for the participatory process with Shift's young participants (ages 12–25)
Program Benefits & Awards
- Budget of €50,000, inclusive of VAT and production costs, for realizing the commissioned artwork
- The concrete distribution/breakdown of the budget is to be worked out by mutual agreement with the selected artist
- Presentation of the completed work as part of Leuven's official Wintertijd program, alongside the Christmas Market, the Wintertuin, a light art trail, concerts, and other public events
- Support and guidance from Shift's digital youth workers throughout the participatory process with the young participants
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Dossiers and applications can be submitted by email to: stadhuis@leuven.be
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 1 September 2026
- Interviews: week of September 14, 2026
- Announcement of selection: 1 October 2026
- Presentation period (Wintertijd): December 8, 2026 – January 10, 2027
Location
Leuven, Belgium
Additional Details
- Selection takes place in two rounds: Round 1 is dossier and portfolio review; Round 2 is an online interview consisting of a 10-minute project presentation followed by a 20-minute Q&A.
- Shift works on a deliberately low-threshold basis, without registration or fixed workshops, allowing young people to join and leave freely and without obligation — the artist's proposed working method should account for this.
- If projection or production space is needed elsewhere (a different angle, from height, from the Sint-Pieterskerk, etc.), this must be discussed in advance with the project coordinator and the relevant departments or institutions.
- Questions about the project generally can be sent to stadhuis@leuven.be; questions specifically about how Shift operates can be directed to florian@lidk.be or by phone at 0456/72.57.87.
- More information about Shift is available at https://www.shiftlab.be/leuven.