50 LIGHT INSTALLATIONS ILLUMINATE COPENHAGEN’S DARK WINTER
Duration: 4.35
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Fifty stunning light art installations illuminate the cold, dark winter nights in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen.
Copenhagen Light Festival is the largest light art festival in Europe in terms of the number of artworks.
For the next three weeks, the light art will shine across the city, spreading throughout the capital.
During the winter season, the sun rises at 8 AM and sets at 5 PM. The lights will remain on even in the morning, allowing commuters to experience them on their way to work, bringing new inspiration to their day, according to visitors.
Copenhagen Light Festival will also host Denmark’s largest light-art run, with more than 1,000 people running in light chains on Sunday the 9th. It will also offer guided tours, where people can dance between the artwork.
Several light art installations are also interactive, such as Aura, where the colors reflects peoplea emotions. People look in a special mirror registering emotions, “that translate those emotions to the colors of the installation”, explain Danish Iranian artist Mani Nikdel.
All the light installations are new each year, giving visitors the feeling of discovering and all ages seems attracted to step outside into the dark. At the installation in the harbour “Love is a Light, darkness is chased away”—alongside several small trampoline youngest and parents seems to enjoy the experience.
A light treasure hunt is actually also part of the entertaining, where families has to find 15 light installations inorder to win a warm drink.
Several works placed along the quay of the Copenhagen harbour invite visitors to slow down, such as the Dutch-made “Connection” by artist Bart Ensing, which encourages awareness of the surroundings.
Another in the same category is the neon light installation “Far Away,” which is equipped with sensors that respond to the audience, resulting in shifting colors and rhythms. In the video, it appears red, reflecting warm feelings.
It also applies to “Flux,” which, in an amazing display, looks like a strong, burning bonfire.
Christiania also participates in the festival. The so-called “free city” since 1971 is a unique part of Copenhagen, home to a diverse community of individuals. Its famous Pusher Street was known for the illegal cannabis trade until 2024 when the sale of hash and marijuana was banned due to gang-related activity. Now, the inhabitants are seeking new ways to repurpose Pusher Street with light installations and have created the art project “What Do You Dream of, Christiania?” Based on interviews with Christiania’s residents, the project was developed by artists Laura Bogstad and Dorte Holbek. Resident Britta Lillesoe says, that we are “The black sheeps from all classes unite in this barracks. With help from empathy, the feeling of love, you know”.
A cemetery in Copenhagen called Vestre Cemetery features three light art installations.
Soleo Nuit by French artist Sébastien Lefèvre shines like a star, reminding visitors that a cemetery doesn’t necessarily have to be a sad place—it can also be a place filled with happy memories.
A face and body appear in white neon light in a piece by Silvia Isach from Barcelona, Spain. Her work is “a tribute to the diversity of perspectives and reality,” which she is thrilled to present in the cemetery.
For the Foregone by Finnish artist Olivia Pohjola projects drawings of extinct animals onto the trees in the churchyard, creating a haunting yet beautiful tribute to lost species.
The art installations are spread throughout the city, and it takes 2-3 days to see them all. Many are located in residential areas, as they have been shown to bring light to dark spaces, uplift communities, and inspire a renewed spirit in the neighborhood.
For instance, a light art installation consisting of 50 white lamps changes and vibrates, standing on the harbor’s water surface, bringing light to a newly developed residential area. The installation, called “Universum,” is created by Slovakian artist Sedemminut.
“Point of View” is a light installation in chains, visualizing the wind from the nearby sea, connected to the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI).
In the same area, nature is also represented by “The Sun,” which shines over a famous lake in a popular residential area of Copenhagen. It brings early light back to the dark winter season and was created by the Norwegian group Zenisk.
Copenhagen Light Festival is one of the most visited events in Denmark with more than 400,000 visitors from both Denmark and abroad, and it runs until February 23 and will come back every year.
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SHOTLIST
- The bridge between Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmoe, Sweden – The Sound and the Øresunds Bridge.
- Lightwork, The Sun
- Lightwork The Weather Report
- Lightwork Les Étoiles, by Simon Chevalier, France
- Woman trying lightwork Aura
- SOUNDBITE Mani Nikdel, artist:
“When you stand in front of the mirror. We measure your emotions and then we translate those emotions to the color. And then you can see it in the piece. “ - VOX-POP Avantika Yadav, Student:
I felt happy. And they showed the color as happy. So it was pretty accurate in the emotions” - VOX-POP Laura Sarasti. Student:
“Joyful. I felt joyful out there. It really heightened my mood” - Lightwork Aura
- Lightwork Sparks Will Fly
- Lightwork Connection
- Lightwork Far Away
- Lightwork Fluxit
- People walking in Christiania, Former pusher street
- Lightwork Hvad drømmer du om Christiania
- Artist Dorte Holbek with artist Laura Bogstad
SOUNDBITE Dorte Holbek, artist
“We have made some poems about what the situation is in Christiania right now. What feelings we feel, when we are here. So you can actually see on the installation“
D.H.: - Lightwork Hvad drømmer du om Christiania
- SOUNDBITE Laura Bogstad, artist:
“What’s great is that even though people are so different and individual, they are actually living in this village, in this harmony. So there is this harmony that even though we don’t agree, we can live together. And that’s amazing. Yeah. “ - Lightwork Hvad drømmer du om Christiania
- SOUNDBITE Britta Lillesøe, resident Christiania
“The black sheep from all classes unite in this barracks. With help from empathy, the feeling of love, you know. Then we will fight too. Because we are all kinds of people in this little spot. So we represent the mirror of the society” - Lightwork Hvad drømmer du om Christiania
- SOUNDBITE Dorte Holbek
“I felt a lot of old coming back, and it’s just another time, another vibe, another, an alternative to life outside. And I think it’s super important to give hope to the rest of Europe that this place just gets the power back.” - Lightwork Soleil Nuit
- Lightwork Soleil Nuit
- Vest Churchyard (Vestre Kirkegaard)
- SOUNDBITE Ole Asbjorn Riis, resident Baunehoj:
“A cemetery is normally a place of death, which is not necessarily a sad place. It can be a happy place. And the light that comes here is maybe. Maybe people will feel enlightened by the light that is here.” - Lightwork Subjective
- Lightwork Subjective
- SOUNDBITE Silvia Isach, artist Barcelona, Spain
“Well, I think it’s a big opportunity to share the the artwork, internationally, in a city like Copenhagen.” - Lightwork Subjective
- Lightwork For the Forgone
- #62 “Universum” by
- Slovakian sedemminut
- #13 Waves of Change – Ungt lys (Young Lights)
- #50 Odonata by Julien Menzel, France
- Point of view be Frederik Dahl Hougs , Denmark
- #54 The Sun by Zenisk, Norway.
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