MP-STUDIO transformed the center of Sofia into an architectural canvas for an international immersive video mapping competition, as seven finalist artworks were projected across the monumental Largo complex for LUNAR: The Lights of Sofia 2026.

Taking place from September 17–20, the special edition of LUNAR marked the fifth edition of the festival and formed part of the celebrations for Sofia Day. Almost 50 artists entered the competition, with seven finalists representing six countries selected to have their work presented on one of the most ambitious projection canvases yet created for the festival.

For the first time, LUNAR concentrated its visual experience on a single location, transforming Independence Square and the surrounding facades of the National Assembly, Council of Ministers, Presidency, and Ministry of Education into one enormous architectural canvas.

Organized by projection mapping and visual effects company MP-STUDIO and Sofia Municipality, the competition invited artists to respond to the theme “Urban Pulse,” interpreting the city as a living organism shaped by the constant movement and interaction of its people, architecture, ideas, and energy.

Creating a unified canvas across the Largo presented MP-STUDIO with a considerable technical challenge.

Rather than projecting onto a single conventional building facade, the installation encompassed multiple monumental architectural surfaces surrounding Independence Square. Each surface needed to become part of one precisely aligned environment, allowing the artists’ content to interact accurately with the physical architecture.

It was also a location MP-STUDIO had wanted to transform for many years.

Speaking to Bulgarian broadcaster bTV during the festival, MP-STUDIO founder and LUNAR founder Marin Petkov described working across the Largo as a long-held ambition for the team and highlighted the technical difficulty involved in delivering a project of this scale.

At the heart of the visual system were 18 channels of Christie Griffyn 4K50 projectors, creating the immense projected canvas across the surrounding architecture. MP-STUDIO used VIOSO ProjectionTools to calibrate the multi-projector system and achieve the precise geometric alignment required across the Largo.

ProjectionTools used camera-based calibration to calculate the geometry, warping, and blending required across the complex multi-projector installation. For LUNAR, this enabled the individual projection channels to be brought together as a unified canvas across the architecture of Independence Square.

The technology ultimately provided the canvas for the artists.

Almost 50 artists participated in the competition process, with seven finalists from Indonesia, Italy, China, Poland, Ukraine, and Czechia selected to present their work in Sofia.

Each finalist was challenged to create an immersive work responding not simply to a rectangular screen, but to the architecture of the Largo itself. Imagery, music, and motion were designed around the physical characteristics of the buildings, turning the surrounding facades into an integral part of each piece.

The seven works were presented repeatedly throughout each evening, allowing thousands of visitors in central Sofia to experience seven very different interpretations of the same monumental canvas.

For the first time at LUNAR, the public could also vote for its favorite work through the festival’s mobile app. An Audience Award was presented alongside the Jury Award, with each carrying a €10,000 prize.

The program also included “Topographies of Light,” a show created by MP-STUDIO, and special content celebrating Sofia, produced in collaboration with “Sketches of Sofia,” a popular page showcasing distinctive places across the Bulgarian capital.

LUNAR continued an established relationship between MP-STUDIO and VIOSO technology on large-scale projection mapping projects.

The Bulgarian studio had previously used ProjectionTools for the projection mapping installation at the Defenders of Stara Zagora Memorial Complex, where a photogrammetry model of the monument was combined with camera-based calibration to accurately warp, blend, and align a nine-projector system across its complex architecture.

For LUNAR 2026, that experience was taken into the center of Sofia and applied to one of MP-STUDIO’s most ambitious canvases yet.

LUNAR: The Lights of Sofia took place from September 17–20, 2026, with the projection mapping program presented each evening from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m..

Photo credit: Soul Cinematic