4 January 2015
At the Water Light Graffiti installation, located at the Post Hall of the Central Railway Station, can be seen big names of graffiti art. The artists will be painting at the venue every day from 6 to 8 pm (on Tuesday 5 January already from 5pm).
Click the name of the artist to see the portfolio.
Sun 4 Jan KAP, HEL & Charles Liquor
Mon 5 Jan Eor E. Bock
Tue 6 Jan Stay Ice & Juha Lahtinen
Wed 7 Jan Hende, Felone & Pher
Thu 8 Jan Sami Serpola
2 January 2015
Ilkka Paloniemi, the artistic director of Lux Helsinki, wrote the head article to January's edition of Helsinki This Week magazine. We are happy publish the editorial with the permission of the magazine.
In Finland, the year paces itself according to the seasons. We enjoy an abundance of natural light during the summer months, but must primarily rely on artificial sources of illumination in wintertime.
It is natural for people to yearn for the light. If the lighting of our everyday environment here in Finland were more interesting and of a higher quality, we might be able to take a more positive view of the winter darkness instead of letting it cause us anxiety. In place of travelling south to look for sunshine, we could see the winter as a source of joy and illuminate our environs to honour the white season. This is an opportunity that should be seized during the dark months of the year.
The dim months of winter serve as a magnificent setting for Lux Helsinki. The festival provides our everyday cityscape with a shot in the arm in the middle of the darkest time of year. Art is brought out of galleries and museums into the urban environment: Lux Helsinki's high-quality light art also opens the doors to city spaces that are rarely visited by the public. This event is aimed at the whole family and it encourages participants to discover fresh perspectives on Helsinki and use their smart phones to record digital memories of unique moments that are fun to recall.
Lux Helsinki 2015 celebrates our city's 20-year history of light-themed events. This tradition is rooted in the Forces of Light event, which was first held in 1995. Lux Helsinki is now being arranged for the seventh time and it continues on the path set out by Forces of Light.
The year-round positive influence of light on personal wellbeing is widely recognised. The city's permanent light fixtures could also be more daring – it would make sense for urban planners and builders to make more use of the ideas of creative artists.
Art is supposed to spur debate. As a modern urban event, Lux Helsinki will also showcase topical and divisive themes in order to distinguish itself from more entertainment-oriented light events. In accordance with this theme, Lux Helsinki 2015 will focus especially on works that engage the public.
Lux Helsinki transforms the city into something like a giant theatre, with spectators themselves playing important roles in plays staged at several venues.
Ilkka Paloniemi
Artistic Director
Lux Helsinki
2 January 2015
Light art installation Unikuvia invites the audience to participate in making the artwork! During Lux Helsinki, the large windows on the front of the Annantalo building will be placed at the disposal of city residents. Projectors will be used to project dream images and stories, which visitors can view or create themselves, onto the windows.
At Annantalo you can participate in workshops called "Marble light and water pearls", "Dream creatures" and "Dream light – light paintings". Download a brochure of the Annantalo programme (pdf, in Finnish).
A sure hit especially for families!
Note! Only from 4 to 7 January from 5 pm to 10 pm.
16 December 2014
The Lux Helsinki light festival is being arranged for the seventh time, from Sunday 4 to Thursday 8 January 2015. The artworks will be on display in a total of 13 places around the centre of Helsinki, from the courtyard of the Tori Quarters to Finlandia Hall. A total of 17 individual artworks will be included.
The Finnish-German troupe of the hugely popular Fire Circus Walkea, already an attraction at Lux Helsinki for three years, will present a combination of dance and fire circus in Senate Square. In honour of the University of Helsinki's 375th anniversary, the Lantern Park will relocate its more than one hundred lanterns from Hesperia Park to the Topelia yard on the university grounds.
Lux Helsinki is suitable for the whole family and entry is free of charge. The festival is organised by the City of Helsinki. Lux Helsinki 2015 will celebrate the 20-year history of light events in Helsinki. The festival is part of the UN's International Year of Light 2015.
The festival will bring art out of the galleries and museums onto the streets. The works will be provided by the most exciting light and media artists and sound designers from Finland, Germany, France, Belgium and Japan. Seven of the works are being commissioned for the first time accompanied by a wide selection of the best of the international light festivals. Forming one of the locations of the event for the first time, the courtyard of the Tori Quarters will feature works familiar from the 2014 Lux IN exhibition in new surroundings.
The installations can be viewed daily and continuously from 5 pm to 10 pm. Only the fire show by Fire Circus Walkea will have set performance times. There will also be a programme of related events, which will be published later.
Partners
INSTAGRAM