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Events 5 Min Read

Projection Art in Prague: Meet Martin Pošta, CEO and founder of Signal Festival

January 20, 2025

We ask Martin about projection art and creating one of the largest cultural events in Central Europe

Attendees to ISE can hear Martin and Christie’s Joe Graziano speak about “The outer limits of projection mapping” as part of a panel discussion on the Live Events stage on Wednesday, February 5 at 12:00 p.m. For more information, visit the ISE website here. 

Producing a live event is a high-stress job. Project planning, fundraising, local permits, and about a million other tasks combine to make this role not for the faint of heart. We wanted to learn more about what it takes to create and run a world-class cultural event year after year, so we turned to Martin Pošta, the CEO and founder of Prague’s Signal Festival. Founded in 2013, Signal is an annual four-day event that brings together artists, creators, and audiences. It incorporates contemporary visual art and technology to transform landmarks and buildings across Prague, and in 2024, was enjoyed by over half a million people.  

What was the catalyst to start Signal Festival? 

Martin Pošta (MP): I quit my job! That was it [laughs]. When I was 24, I took a role in a private television station, which is the biggest TV station in the Czech Republic. I was the editor-in-chief of the channel’s web operations – akin to a very early version of Netflix. I soon realized that it wasn’t for me. 

I had previous experience working with film festivals, and I had even started my own festival, so I went back to organizing events. During one of my parties, friends approached me and said they wanted to do video mapping. I had never heard of it! They explained what it was, and after I spoke with the deputy mayor of Prague, we ended up projection mapping onto the clock tower in the center of the city.  

People watch a projection mapping show on the façade of a building.

Attendees to Signal 2024 look on as the Schwarzenkerkey Palace is projection mapped by the artist Desilence using Christie Griffyn® 4K50-RGB pure laser projectors.
Credit: Desilence – The Rhythm of the Ocean – Signal Festival

It went viral – or what that meant 14 years ago. After that, we gained a lot of attention, and I had a chance to see a lot of artists’ work throughout Europe and the Middle East. I wanted to create something where I could invite them to exhibit – and that’s how Signal started. 

Did your experience in film and television come into play when you started the festival? 

MP: Yes. I had a lot of contacts, including within the city’s government, which helped tremendously. I also understood what it means to have a creative vision – it may sound superficial – but really, it’s the understanding of how to get from point A to point B while overcoming any obstacles along the way.  

What was the first edition of the festival like? 

MP: It started with a wish list of artists that I really loved and negotiations with the city mayor and administration to get permission to hold the festival. Keep in mind at that time not many people knew about projection mapping, so we had to do a lot of education.  

The first edition was very experimental. But the combination of hyper-modern art and technology against the backdrop of the city’s baroque architecture worked – it was beautiful. We knew it was a success when we realized that the metro was so crowded that they had to stop the escalators going down to allow people to exit onto the street to see the festival.  

We had about 250,000 people attend the first edition. 

How has the festival evolved over the past 12 years? 

MP: The festival grew organically to about 400,000 visitors in the second year. Last year, we had about 500,000 people attend. Part of our mission is to lower barriers to experiencing art, and we see Signal as a transitional bridge from the streets to the galleries. So now, we collaborate with galleries during the festival.  

View of a Christie projector illuminating a building through an open window.

Projection art mapped onto the Prague Castle Riding School during Signal 2024 by Filip Hodas using a Christie Griffyn® 4K35-RGB pure laser projector.
Photo credit: Filip Hodas – Eternal Recurrence – Signal Festival

We also change locations every year so that visitors get to explore different parts of the city. Though this makes it a lot more challenging for us to plan, it does make Signal a different experience each year.  

How does Signal differ from other cultural festivals? 

MP: We call ourselves a ‘digital art and creativity’ festival, so we have analog and kinetic art and projection mapping. Part of our focus is to invite artists that make a difference so that there is depth to the artworks that are presented. 

Each year, we choose a different topic for the festival and try to comment on the state of society through art. That can mean examining current issues or looking ahead. For example, we bought five cars that were destroyed in the war in Ukraine and parked them on the street, smoking. We wanted to show the impact of war on regular objects. It was very powerful. 

How do you find and select the artists for the festival? 

MP: It’s a very fluid process. We can only commission 15-20 works per year, so we don’t hold open calls—it’s by invitation only. We have a pool of artists that we follow – we may have seen their work online or in person, or we may have considered them for a previous year’s festival.  

We’ll outline a theme based on a few works and then try to pick artists who may be interested in participating from there. There’s a bit of randomness to the process! 

What are the greatest challenges in running a cultural festival? 

MP: There are hundreds of challenges! But the biggest and most challenging is fundraising. It requires a lot of time and focus.  

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The Prague Castle Riding School is projection mapped during Signal 2024 by Filip Hodas using a Christie Griffyn® 4K35-RGB pure laser projector.
Photo credit: Filip Hodas – Eternal Recurrence – Signal Festival

The second would be programming. We want to ensure that the artworks are placed correctly early in the process. A lot of art is very site-specific, either created for the location itself or adapted to it, so there’s a mix-and-match that we have to spend time on.  

Can you give us any hints about this year’s festival? 

MP: [laughs] No, no, no! 

Christie was the technology partner for Signal Festival 2024, providing technical expertise and projection solutions, including our Griffyn® 4K50-RGB pure laser projector.