While Art Basel and Art Miami in December mark South Florida’s traditional art season peak, they now have competition as choice destinations for art and design aficionados. In its third year, IGNITE Broward in January is emerging as a rival to the old epicenters to the south, offering its own style of illuminating escapism and imaginative play to locals and art tourists alike.
The 2023 edition, running January 25-29 in downtown Fort Lauderdale and Dania Beach, will be an exploration of art at its most experimental and boundlessly creative, with 11 transporting installations as well as a showcase by the 3D art collective Limelight, the paradigm-shifting impresarios of large-scale projection mapping. The festival and the lineup personify the Rousseau observation that “The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.” Attendees will find themselves inside sensory and perceptual environments that undergo continuous transformation, with lines between reality and imagination blurred.
“IGNITE Broward features immersive large-scale projection mapping, interactive light sculptures, and interactive installations,” Phil Dunlap, director of Broward County Cultural Division said. “From interactive physical pieces to immersive installations that transport you to another dimension, there will be something of interest for all ages.”
The festival is expanding for 2023 to encompass more and bigger activities, and more art, poetry readings and music performances alongside visual and experiential displays and installations from top national and international artists and designers. Dreamlike 3D environments, NFT creations and representations of “invisible existences” depicted in nature are just some of the attractions on the menu at this Instagram-friendly five-day gathering. Artist meet-and-greets are also happening. (Check the schedule!)
IGNITE Broward also coincides with Fort Lauderdale Art & Design Week in what has become an impressive set of overlapping public-private collaborations. IGNITE Broward’s partners include MAD Arts, Museum of Discovery, Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale and city and county cultural and tourism agencies, all committed to growing a sustainable South Florida arts scene alongside the one flourishing in Miami-Dade.
IGNITE Broward runs Wednesday-Sunday, January 25-29 at Esplanade Park and the Museum of Discovery & Science in Fort Lauderdale and MAD Arts in Dania Beach. Free admission.
This article originally appeared in PureHoney Magazine. Check them out here.
