>When it’s January in Helsinki, the night can seem endless. And what’s the one thing that people are needing more of in the dead of winter in northern Europe? Light, of course! And once again they’re going to get it.
From Wednesday January 6 to Sunday January 10, the eighth annual Lux Helsinki light festival will illuminate this design-centric city with luminous artwork from talented artists around the world. With over 200,000 visitors last January, the Finnish light festival keeps growing and growing in popularity year after year.
Lux Helsinki is free of charge and takes place between the hours of 5 and 10 PM. This year the route has been changed to be more accommodating to first time and returning visitors. It will run from the Ateneum Art Museum to Annantalo, focusing on major highlights such as Esplanade Park, Bulevardi, and Annankatu.
Food goes well with anything happening outdoors and there will be a greater emphasis on street food this year than ever before. On Senate Square and Annankatu, for example, you’ll be able to find all kinds of snacks to satisfy your cravings.
Selected Works and Events
Artists Jarmo Vellonen, Marikki Hakola, Epa Tamminen and Jone Takamaki have collaborated to create Frontiers: a fusion of soundscapes, video projections, and reliefs mounted on music stands. Just like the instruments of an orchestra, the various elements of Frontiers create a dialogue with one another that eclipses the sum of their parts.
If you’re on the short side like me, perhaps you know how it feels to live among giants. But even if you’re not as vertically challenged, you may feel similarly once you step foot into Esplanade Park amid the Lampounette display. Work lamps up to seven meters (23 feet) tall have presumably fallen from the sky (when Jack climbed up the beanstalk and accidentally knocked them off a giant’s desk). Designed by the French TILT Group, Lampounette has been in numerous light festivals in other countries such as the United Arab Emirates and China.
And how many people does it take to screw in 6,000 light bulbs? The answer is apparently two: Canadian natives Caitlind Brown and Wayne Garret have created Cloud where raindrops hang from a cloud composed of six thousand light bulbs. The catch is that these raindrops are actually pull-chain switches where visitors interact with the artwork by yanking the strings to turn the cloud’s light on and off. The exhibit can be viewed at the crossing between Annankatu and Kalevankatu.
One of the best things about Lux Helsinki is that there’s something out and about for everyone, including kids. The Annantalo Arts Centre will host the Light playground where people of all ages (yes, grown-ups, too) can play with lights, adventure in a nocturnal forest, and shoot a star into the sky. If you’re feeling tired, you can “recharge your batteries” by participating in the centre’s polar night therapy clinic.
Lux Helsinki is in collaboration with Radio Helsinki, and will be organized by Visit Helsinki’s Event Director Päivi Meros. You can probably leave your sunglasses at home.
For more info – www.luxhelsinki.fi
For event locations – www.luxhelsinki.fi/map