NOBEL PURPOSE

Stockholm’s Nobel Week Lights in December was a much-needed celebration of light and light installations during a year when the pandemic has meant light festivals have been few and far between

By Nic Paton

Light festivals

Covid-19 has not only emptied our high streets, pubs and shopping centres this winter, it has also meant it has been a season without the usual light festivals to brighten up the long nights.

So, even though Sweden has been struggling with the pandemic in recent months, the fact the first ever Nobel Week Lights Stockholm was able to take place at all in December was a refreshing chink of light in the darkness.

The event, which ran from 05-13 December, saw 16 locations around the city being creatively illuminated, weaving together art and technology to celebrate 2020’s Nobel Laureates.

CELEBRATING NOBEL WINNERS

Installations included ‘Space’ by artist Andreas Skärberg, PXLFLD and Lumination of Sweden.

One of the largest video mapping projects ever seen in Stockholm, it was projected on to Stockholm City Hall and was designed to celebrate the 2020 Nobel Physics Prize, which was split between three physicists for their work around black holes [1].

‘Brilliance’, a site-specific light work created for Sweden’s Nationalmuseum, was a dynamic and colourful light story by artist Aleksandra Stratimirovic.

‘Reflect’, by Beckmans/Studio Tek at the city’s Kulturhuset, was designed to celebrate the unsung research teams behind the Nobel winners.

‘Opera Lights – the Art of Looking Forward’, by artists Patrik Becker and Hans Håkansson, illuminated the Kungliga Operan, or Royal Swedish Opera, and was designed to highlight the importance of fellowship and community during these dark times.

‘Ledsagere’, by Tobias Rylander and Sahara Widoff, illuminated the façade of the Nobel Prize Museum, and was inspired by the procession that opens the Nobel Banquet. The word ledsagare also means a signpost that shows the way, so symbolising how the museum can act as a guide.

Then ‘Sense Light Swing’, by Alexander Lervik in the city’s Kungsträdgården and Skärholmen, was a playful, moving installation comprising a swing seat made of transparent acrylic illuminated from the inside by a strip of strong LEDs.

For those who were unable physically to travel to Stockholm (in other words, most of us), the installations are available to view digitally through the Nobel Week Lights website, at https://nobelweeklights.se/ program/?lang=en

Images from Nobel Week Lights Stockholm. Previous page: ‘Space’. This page, from top down: ‘Brilliance’; ‘Reflect’, ‘Opera Lights’; and ‘Sense Light Swing’. All photographs by Per Kristiansen

[1] ‘The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020’, split between Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, and Andrea Ghez, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2020/summary/