An Immersive Manifesto in the Heart of Europe
In a defining cultural moment for Europe’s capital, “THE INFINITE WALK,” written and directed by visionary artist Ioana Mischie, opened the 10th edition of BRIGHT Festival as its largest installation, captivating audiences and earning international acclaim. The installation unfolds as a journey through time, space, and spirit, paying an immersive tribute to the philosophy of Constantin Brâncuși, the founder of modern sculpture.
The project was selected by BRIGHT BRUSSELS FESTIVAL and commissioned by the Romanian Cultural Institute in Brussels. According to Corina Panaitopol, the director of ICR Brussels:
“The Infinite Walk is a masterpiece speaking about our Romanian identity, creating a bridge between past and present, between Brâncuși’s legacy and modern technology. Beyond its bold artistic dimensions, the project serves as a dynamic platform for cultural diplomacy, showcasing Romania among leading European digital creators. Congratulations to the artists who captivated an international audience of 420 000 spectators. At the Romanian Cultural Institute in Brussels, our core mission is to encourage international collaboration and engage new audiences.”
The 10th edition of the festival featured over 20 international installations in Brussels’ historic centre, reaffirming BRIGHT as one of Europe’s premier events for light art and audiovisual innovation.
“THE INFINITE WALK” transformed the façade of the Church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg into a living canvas of light. The work invites audiences to reflect on essence, transformation, and the infinite within a finite moment. The original concept depicts the ever-expanding transformation of the human spirit.
This collaboration marked Romanian Cultural Institute’s third participation in the BRIGHT Festival — its most ambitious intervention to date.
Projected over four consecutive evenings between 18:30 and 23:00 — totalling 18 hours of immersive spectacle — the animated 3D mapping redefined the neoclassical landmark as a living monument dedicated to Brâncuși, one week before the 150th anniversary of the modern sculptor. The immersive animation mapping display in a loop attracted multi-generational audiences and families from across the country and the continent.
The Grand Opening of an Epic Lightshow
The opening ceremony featured speeches by Rudi Vervoort, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region, Elke Van den Brandt, Brussels Minister for Mobility, Public Works, and Road Safety, Dirk De Smedt, Minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region responsible for Finance, Budget, Public Service, Promotion of Multilingualism, and the Image of Brussels, Bernard Quintin, Minister of the Interior, responsible for Beliris, Philippe Close, Mayor of the City of Brussels and the Mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close, who inaugurated the festival by activating the immersive installation with a ceremonial red “Buzzer,” positioning “The Infinite Walk” as the emblematic flagship of the anniversary edition of BRIGHT Festival. A choreography of light erupted across Place Royale, transforming the historic square into an uplifting digital canvas.
“The 10th edition of BRIGHT invites us all into the realm of extraordinary light art.”, Rudi Vervoort, Minister-President of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, during the opening of the festival.
“I would like to congratulate everyone who brings this festival to life. A city is so much more than a closed cultural venue; it is a living organism. Enjoy the creative lights that will illuminate Brussels!”, Philippe Close, the mayor of Brussels, during the opening ceremony.
“BRIGHT festival is an awakening for the entire city! It is designed as a co-creation platform.”, Nathalie Thilmant, director of BRIGHT, during Bright Sessions.
“Place Royale never looked more beautiful”, declared Visit Brussels, referring to both the recent redesign of the square and the iconic light show of the Romanian artists.
A Historic Convergence of Milestones
The Church Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg in Brussels was historically associated with the baptisms of Belgian royalty. Several members of the Belgian monarchy — including King Leopold II, King Albert I, King Leopold III, King Baudouin, King Albert II, King Philippe, Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, and Princess Astrid — were baptised there.
The unveiling of “THE INFINITE WALK” took place within an extraordinary constellation of landmark events: the 150th anniversary of Constantin Brâncuși, founder of modern sculpture and pioneer of essentialism, the public relaunch of the Church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg as a renewed sacred and cultural landmark, the inauguration by Beliris of the fully redesigned Place Royale, restored for pedestrians, highlighting Brussels’ heritage in a newly expanded contemplative space and the 10th anniversary of the BRIGHT Festival, a decade of pioneering light art and digital innovation in Belgium.
As part of the transformation of Place Royale, the former traffic roundabout had been returned to pedestrians, unveiling an open civic agora that celebrated the architectural harmony of Brussels’ neoclassical façades. This grand opening democratised a new public space for enjoyment.
The immersive journey elevated the multiple milestones. Within this renewed urban sanctuary, The Infinite Walkrose as a luminous epicenter — turning stone into motion, architecture into choreography, and history into future-driven worldbuilding.
“Our key question was not only how to celebrate the 150 years of pioneering art, but to ask as well, how shall the next 150 years of innovative art look like? How may future intersections of art, tech, science and social rituals be embodied by innovative concepts? We have used high-end technologies and advanced concept creation to bring this holistic European manifesto to life, hoping to inspire multiple generations of creators. Our walk is infinite because transformation never ends.”, mentioned Ioana Mischie, the lead artist behind the immersive work.
The Creative Vision: A Walk Across Time, Space and Spirit
Inspired by the legendary 1,870-kilometre journey that famous Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși undertook on foot from Hobița to Paris — a pilgrimage of over 2,337,500 steps — the installation philosophically translated a biographical truth into a universal, collaborative path applicable to any passerby.
“The Infinite Walk is conceived as a creative perpetuum mobile — a continuous movement of our individual and collective consciousness as we define and refine the creative legacy we leave behind. It is a passage of body, mind, and spirit across generations — an unfolding of epiphanies and challenges, of inner and outer landscapes — ultimately intended to elevate humanity in meaningful ways,” added the artist.
The concept taps into the artist's broader philosophy, centred on noetic-fiction, a European concept she coined in the recent decade in her PhD thesis.
“Noetic fiction (noe-fi) is an alternative to science-fiction (sci-fi). If sci-fi imagines futures fueled by the advancement of technology alone, I aim to create futures fueled by the advancement of human consciousness. In other words, how shall we progress in the next decades to come, with care to our own essential qualities and to the essence of our surroundings? Ultimately, this transformational mapping project is also a manifesto for what I call “Infinite Cinema”. I perceive cinema as a fluid organism, able to enchant audiences not only in cinema halls, but also or even moreover in the city, on the streets, on facades, in schools or hospitals. In Europe there are only 4.5 million cinema chairs, however if we could expand meaningful film language in alternative spaces, we could reach hundreds of millions.”, highlighted Ioana Mischie.
On the monumental façade, a character composed entirely of light was born as an embryo and evolved into adulthood, walking through temporal, spatial and spiritual dimensions, turning into an ever-expanding cosmic sun towards the end. The multisensory experience explores the power of transformation through successive life cycles, capturing the mesmerising passage of generations in a collective pulse. This immersive journey across time, space and spirit celebrates our inner and outer metamorphosis, from birth to beyond-ness, from a subtle point of discovery to an ever-expanding universe of meaning. The narrative unfolded as a collective metaphor — a passage: from childhood to maturity, from the visible to the invisible, from the finite to the infinite.
The luminous protagonist could have been the spirit of any of us — every passerby became part of the universal ever-expanding walk. “The Infinite Walk” emerged as the emotional and symbolic core of a co-created celebration — the moment that unified heritage, technology and philosophy into a singular, unforgettable experience.
Beyond spectacle, the work resonated as an open invitation: What is the true purpose of our existence in today’s world? What remains essential in an age where appearances so often prevail? And above all, how can we experience the infinite within a finite moment?
By transforming architecture into narrative, The Infinite Walkdid not merely open a festival — it opened a space for collective introspection, a space for co-creation and for collaborative progress.
The Creative Team Developing the Franchise
Co-produced by Storyscapes and Les Ateliers Nomad, “THE INFINITE WALK” was brought to life by a collective of Romania’s leading digital artists, combining their expertise to create a transformative, world-class immersive spectacle:
- IOANA MISCHIE – concept creator and director, pioneer in transmedia storytelling, film, VR, and immersive artistry
- HORIA TEODOR – 3D Artist, Mapping, Editor
- SEBASTIAN COMĂNESCU – 3D Artist
- CEZAR ȘOMITCĂ – 3D Artist, Graphics, Sound
- MATEI DERȘIDAN – 3D Artist
- SEBASTIAN ANDRONE-NAKANISHI – Music Composer
- ELENA VASILACHE – Vocal Music
- ANDREI NECHIFOR – Credits Music
- TOM VAIDA – Editing extensions
An internationally acclaimed innovator in immersive storytelling, Ioana Mischie has signed numerous pioneering works including the first steoreoscopic feature, the first AI film, the first multi-player VR in Romania. Her artistic works were selected by 250 festivals worldwide and awarded by The Webby Awards, European XR Awards and more. Her professional training was developed in A class festivals such as Berlinale Talents, Cannes or Sundance workshops. Signed previously projects such as Tangible Utopias, DreamNA. Her immersive project Human Violins: Prelude was selected in the official Cannes Immersive section of the Cannes Film Festival, ranking among the world’s top immersive experiences.
The opening vocal performance was delivered by Romanian-born, UK-based singer Elena Vasilache. Her rendition of the iconic Romanian song “Lie, Ciocârlie” resonated throughout Place Royale in a beautifully reimagined version. The piece, drawn from the repertoire of legendary Romanian singer Maria Tănase — an artist often admired by Constantin Brâncuși — paid homage to Romania’s rich musical heritage while complementing the festival’s immersive spectacle.
The original music was composed by Sebastian Androne-Nakanishi, a multi-awarded Romanian-born composer based in Switzerland and embodied the progression of human transformation:
“The music for the project is deliberately minimal: two chords repeating endlessly, like two interlinked parts bound together in an inexorable cycle. They continually return to each other in a spiraling alternation. It feels almost like a painful departure from one’s homeland, yet tinged with longing and hope for return. Like an ascent that, while delighting in upward motion, also mourns the triumph over gravity. The public’s reaction was wonderful: one of Belgium’s most beautiful buildings came alive, if only for a few moments, in a truly Brâncuși-esque and simultaneously original way.”, said Sebastian Androne-Nakanishi.
The Festival Impact
BRIGHT Festival represents an epicentre of digital light art for Belgium, growing the country as an international game-changer. It had long stood among Brussels’ most anticipated cultural events being described as “the best lightshow of the year” by entities such as “We Love Brussels”.
Visit Brussels mentioned “Bright Brussels Festival… lights up your winter evenings with a majestic illuminated trail through the historic centre of the capital.”
The 2026 edition gathered: 20 large-scale installations, 30 public and private partners, 420,000 spectators, 120,000 international visitors.
The event included a series of conferences and case studies designed for New Media professionals, addressing trends in the industry as well as advancing heritage.
Glocal Impact
“THE INFINITE WALK” installation quickly went viral on social media, with Belgian audiences describing it as “magnifique,” while international attendees celebrated Romanian creative talent and European innovation. For the Romanian diaspora in the region, the project stood out as a highly visible and meaningful celebration of contemporary heritage at the very heart of Europe.
In an Era of profound technological transformations, the selected creators are more than light designers; they are visionary leaders in digital and immersive art.
BRIGHT Festival is Brussels’ premier open-air cultural event, celebrated for transforming the city into a luminous canvas. The festival showcases over 20 national and international light installations, alongside museum exhibitions, guided tours, and interactive workshops accessible to all ages. The 2026 edition featured 20 installations and brought together 420,000 visitors, cementing its reputation as a landmark celebration of light and innovation.
Constantin Brâncuși is a world-renowned sculptor, born in Hobița, Romania, and celebrated as the pioneer of modern sculpture. Beyond his revolutionary forms, he championed essentialism, reducing shapes to their purest, most profound expression. His epic journey from rural Romania to Paris became both a literal and symbolic passage — a metaphor for artistic evolution and spiritual ascent from local roots to universality. “The Alley of the Heroes” in Târgu Jiu, conceived by Constantin Brâncuși and recently inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, stands as a monumental testament to his visionary approach to public art.
Ioana Mischie is a pioneering transmedia artist born in Tg-Jiu, Romania, at the forefront of cinematic innovation and immersive storytelling. Fulbright Alumna, her work spans transmedia projects that fuse film, virtual reality, and interactive media into ever-expanding franchises. Her recent immersive creation, Human Violins: Prelude, was featured in the official Cannes Immersive section at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and ranks among the world’s top eight VR experiences. Both an artist and a thought-leader, her philosophy may be explored in books published at MIT Press or NYU Press.
Les Ateliers Nomad is a multi-award-winning interdisciplinary collective, founded in 2010 by Matei Dersidan and Alex Petrosanu. The studio specialises in transforming bold ideas into captivating immersive visual experiences that push the boundaries of technology and artistry.
Storyscapes began as the first Romanian-based transmedia association back in 2012, signing yearly multi-awarded immersive franchises that put Romanian creatives on the global map of innovation.
The Romanian Cultural Institute (RCI) is Romania’s national institution for cultural diplomacy, dedicated to promoting Romanian culture and creative industries worldwide. Through a network of over 19 branches and representative offices across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia, the Institute supports contemporary arts, heritage initiatives, academic exchange, and international cultural cooperation.
