Winner, 1st place, BBBank-Award 2023

A kaleidoscope of cultures: the winning entry for the BBBank Award 2023 uses 2D drawing techniques to show a non-European perspective on social change and cohesion. The train serves as the leitmotif, making the rapid changes brought about by globalization palpable. The projection mapping is inspired by the Indonesian maxim »Bhinneka Tunggal Ika« — »Unity in Diversity.«

Winner, 2nd place, BBBank Award 2023

This poetic show plays with the intersections of natural science, artificial intelligence, and human thought. The windows of the castle liquefy with the help of artificial intelligence – AI – and generative art – GA – before melting into clouds and enveloping the castle in a colorful mist. What can be seen here would not have been technically possible just a few years ago!

Winner, 3rd place, BBBank Award 2023

How can we design a future in which humans and algorithms share spaces with sensitivity? Karlsruhe-based Cluster Kollektiv takes us on a breathless audiovisual tour from the perspective of a self-driving vehicle. With the aesthetics of LIDAR sensors, glitch art, and a fast-paced electronic soundtrack, this contribution reflects on the beauty of error and malfunction.

3rd Place, BBBank Award 2023 Winner

A digitized and networked society promises endless possibilities. However, information overload, increased speeds, and virtual worlds also overwhelm us time and again. How can we use new technologies without losing sight of people? »HUMANITY« by SÍNOCA dreams of a world in which we give more space to our emotions.

The 1980s were marked by a revolution in popular culture. Walkman and game consoles dominated leisure. Music and consumer goods reflected global fashions, and with home computers, computer technology conquered the private sphere. At the end of the decade, the fall of the Berlin Wall promised the dawn of a new era. In »80s' Flash,« the Hungarian collective Maxin10sity recalls the pop and colorful decade of the 1980s.

At their sole concert in Germany, Kraftwerk's performance will be unique in the band's history: on August 12, 2023, at and in front of Karlsruhe Castle. The performance in Karlsruhe is the result of the long-standing friendship between Kraftwerk lead singer and keyboardist Ralf Hütter and Peter Weibel. An excerpt from the program will be on show at the SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELEN 2023. The soundscape improvises from the band's oeuvre and underscores the pioneering work of the Düsseldorfers.

In his famous song »Wir Sind Daten,« Peter Weibel erected a musical memorial to the whistleblowers Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning and Edward Snowden. The song was recorded in 2013 with Peter Weibel's band Hotel Morphila Orchester at a legendary performance in Krems, Austria. On March 1, 2023, the then director of the ZKM | Karlsruhe and longtime curator of the SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE passed away at the age of 78. Now his singing can be heard once again in front of the castle. In memory of Peter Weibel, Nikolaus Völzow has adapted the music video for large-scale projection.