TARTU LIGHT BIENNIAL

Tartu Light Biennial, or Tartu Light TAVA26, is a comprehensive, international, and interdisciplinary flagship event for contemporary light art and lighting design. It enriches both public spaces and exhibition halls, encourages the reduction of light pollution, fosters sustainable solutions for biodiversity, and transforms Tartu into a radiant, thought-provoking Capital of Light during dark autumn evenings.

The main events of TAVA26 will take place at the University of Tartu Botanical Garden on 22–24 October 2026. However, the preceding workshop week (16–21 October 2026), the Finnish light artists' exhibition "Light of Shadow" at the Pallas Gallery (21 October–21 November 2026), and several satellite exhibitions (such as exhibitions by Evelyn Grzinich and Estonian glass artists at the Botanical Garden, 21 October–19 November) transform TAVA into a month-long festival.

The main program of TAVA26 consists of architectural lighting workshops, outdoor installations, concerts  ja indoor exhibitions. In addition, we collaborate with Tartu's cultural institutions and businesses, whose activities can be found in TAVA's side program. 

The TAVA26 light axis begins at the University of Tartu Botanical Garden, moves to Thalia Cinema, and continues to the Pallas Gallery, the Natural History Museum, and up to Toome Hill, to the ruins of the Dome Church.