OUT OF BALANCE – Staro RīgaDownload Out of Balance, the light installation by Silviu Ciora that I curated for Staro Riga 2025, was presented at Miera Street 20/22 and explored the fragile balance between humans and the natural world. The installation featured two large illuminated metal sculptures whose scale and precision encouraged viewers to pause and reconsider human–non-human interdependencies. ThroughContinueContinue reading ““Out of Balance” at Staro Riga 2025”
Tag Archives: Light Festivals
New Special Issue – After Dark: Atmospheres, Temporalities, and Embodied Practices of Nighttime Tourism
“After Dark: Atmospheres, Temporalities, and Embodied Practices of Nighttime Tourism” in Tourism Geographies. Explore light festivals, queer nightlife, stargazing, affective atmospheres, and nighttime urbanism. Abstracts due November 15, 2025.
Spectacularized Nocturnality: Presenting at Club Health Ghent
On May 14, 2025, I had the pleasure of presenting a talk at the 13th Club Health International Conference on Nightlife, Substance Use and Related Health Issues, held in the vibrant city of Ghent, Belgium. My contribution took place during the opening plenary session and was titled “Spectacularized Nocturnality: The Eventification and Touristification of the Night through Culture-Led MassiveContinueContinue reading “Spectacularized Nocturnality: Presenting at Club Health Ghent”
Light Festivals and Proximity Tourism: Rethinking the Impact of Nighttime Cultural Events in Portugal
On May 4, 2025, I had the honour and great pleasure of delivering a talk titled “Tangible and Intangible Impacts of Nocturnal Cultural Events: The Role of Light Festivals in Proximity Tourism in Portugal”, as part of the Cities and Creativity seminar series hosted by the Universidade do Algarve in Faro. The session provided an opportunity to share reflections on theContinueContinue reading “Light Festivals and Proximity Tourism: Rethinking the Impact of Nighttime Cultural Events in Portugal”
ICNS.LX 2025
Global Night: Past, Present, and Future The 6th International Conference on Night Studies (ICNSLX) invites scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts to explore the multifaceted dynamics of the global night. This year’s theme, Global Night: Past, Present, and Future, seeks to foster interdisciplinary dialogues on nighttime as a social, cultural, and economic phenomenon that shapes our world acrossContinueContinue reading “ICNS.LX 2025”
New Article: Mi-e Dor De Tine – Light Festivals and the Romanian Diaspora
I’m excited to share that my paper, “Mi-e Dor De Tine: Light Festivals, Emotional Narratives, and the Romanian Diaspora,” has just been published in the latest thematic issue of the Philosophy of the City Journal! In this article, I explore how the Mi-e Dor De Tine light installation has transcended its artistic form to become a powerful emotional and symbolicContinueContinue reading “New Article: Mi-e Dor De Tine – Light Festivals and the Romanian Diaspora”
ICNS.LX 2023
We invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners from around the world to join us for the 4th International Conference on Night Studies, which will take place in Lisbon, from 11–13 October 2023. The night offers unique opportunities and challenges for the use of private and public spaces. At night, the boundaries between these spaces can becomeContinueContinue reading “ICNS.LX 2023”
ICNS.LX 2022
Night Studies is a transdisciplinary field with works from different social and human sciences. The research covers a wide range of topics related to the so-called ‘Nocturnal World(s)’, including a good number of geographical, cultural, and social contexts; formal and informal practices; and normative and non-normative behaviours. In recent years the study of the night,ContinueContinue reading “ICNS.LX 2022”
Reflecting on Authorship and Light Festivals: My Contribution to the LabEx ICCA Study Day in Paris
Back in April 2018, I had the pleasure of participating in the second annual study day organized by the Network of Young Researchers of the LabEx ICCA (Cultural Industries and Artistic Creation), held at the Maison de la Recherche de la Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. The event explored the evolving notions of participation, cooperation, and collaborationinContinueContinue reading “Reflecting on Authorship and Light Festivals: My Contribution to the LabEx ICCA Study Day in Paris”
Documenting the Night: Survey Research at Lumina Light Festival 2017
In 2017, during the Lumina Light Festival in Cascais, I conducted a large-scale survey as part of my ethnographic research on light festivals and nighttime urban experiences. This work would later become a central component of my doctoral thesis in sociology. Recently, Ocubo, the artistic studio and main organizer of Lumina, produced a short video that documents theContinueContinue reading “Documenting the Night: Survey Research at Lumina Light Festival 2017”
Manuel Garcia-Ruiz 