Welcome to an Exploratory Vinterljus!

1. FIRST LIGHT

Artist: Those Guys Lighting

About the artwork: First Light is an audiovisual installation that celebrates the past and looks to the future – where cultural heritage meets modern technology. The inspiration comes from the symbolism of the sun: a new beginning, life, and constant change.

The artwork is approximately five meters high and six meters wide. It is clad in polished brass plates shaped by the Latvian designer Mārcis Ziemiņš. In the meeting between light and metal, a play of rich reflections emerges.

The light consists of 250 meters of energy-efficient LED strips, meticulously synchronized with a specially composed soundscape by Pēteris Pāss – together creating an experience where light and sound merge.

About the Artist: Those Guys Lighting is an art collective from Riga, Latvia, consisting of engineers, light designers, and programmers united by a common passion for light. Since their start in 2018, they have grown from a small studio to an established team with an international presence. Their goal: to create epic experiences of light.  

2. ON THE WAVE OF LIGHT

Artist: Those Guys Lighting

About the artwork: Light is a vibration – just like sound, and essentially everything in the universe. On the Wave of Light makes these vibrations visible.

The installation consists of 100 light rods placed along a 100-meter-long pathway. As you move past, the light in the rods is activated, leaving a glowing trail behind that slowly fades away. The effect is a living wave of light that follows your steps – a poetic experience of movement and presence.

About the Artist: Those Guys Lighting is an art collective from Riga, Latvia, consisting of engineers, light designers, and programmers united by a common passion for light. Since their start in 2018, they have grown from a small studio to an established team with an international presence. Their goal: to create epic experiences of light.

3. DOMKYRKOTORNET

About the artwork: See Domkyrkan (the Cathedral) in a whole new light! During Vinterljus, a dynamic lighting design highlights the Cathedral's tower from multiple directions. The illumination emphasizes the newly restored details and creates a striking silhouette against the winter sky. Follow how the light moves across stone and metal and discover forms emerging in a new glow. The light allows Linköping's most famous landmark to step forward anew – like a shining beacon in the winter darkness.

4. PEER REVIEW

Artist: Öllegård Bengtsdotter

About the artwork: The light installation is a collaboration between The City of Linköping and Linköping University—which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Linköping University was established in 1975, and for half a century, it has been an engine for knowledge, research, and critical thinking in Linköping.

“Once we were just an idea—today we stand as living proof of what courage can create when ideas are given space to take shape in both thought and form. For five decades, we have explored the unknown and watched opportunities emerge. Powered by research and education, artistic expression provides us with new ways to challenge and understand the world around us. Through this installation, we aim, with the help of light, to enrich knowledge and deepen understanding. Our 50 years mark only the beginning—for we are convinced that the future always belongs to those who dare to think freely and innovate.”

About the artist: Öllegård Bengtsdotter is a student at Linköping University and works with video art that combines computer programming, art, and performance. Through interactive Java animations, her works evoke curiosity, reflection, and playful contemplation.

5. ORGAN

Artist: Nicolas Paolozzi

About the artwork: See the music – experience the poetry. Step into a world where light becomes tone and colors create melody. ORGAN invites you into a tranquil atmosphere where the visual transforms into a musical scale for both eyes and ears.

This atmospheric artwork, with its almost gothic feel, is both a greeting from the future and a whisper from history. Let yourself be enchanted as ORGAN allows light and music to interact in perfect harmony. Sound design: Baptiste Martineu.

About the artist: Nicolas Paolozzi is a French architect and artist who explores the boundary between the tangible and the ethereal. His works evolve over time, offering an immersive experience of space and light. Paolozzi had his breakthrough with his first large-scale work at the famous Fête des Lumières de Lyon in 2014 and has since continued to invite visitors to experience the world in new ways.

6. PERCEPTIONS

Artist: Mollu Heino

About the artwork: Perceptions mirrors emotions through color. The work consists of facial profiles that react to you as the viewer. As you move in front of them, the expressions change – they might turn red with anger, green with envy, or light up with joy.

The result is an unexpected dialogue between the artwork and the viewer – a constant transformation of light, color, and emotion.

The artwork has previously been shown at LumenRauma, Ii Light Festival, and WinterLight Pavilion 2023.

About the artist: Mollu Heino lives and works in Finland. She has studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Aalto University. Her primary means of expression are painting, light, and three-dimensional materials, often with nature and humanity's role in the world as themes.

7. TRÄDKRAMAREN

Artist: Erik Olsson

About the artwork: Trädkramaren (The Tree Hugger) was created in 2020 as part of the art project Interference, organized by Österängens Konsthall. The work was born from the isolation of the pandemic and the longing for closeness – and has since been on a kind of "hugging tour."

"the tree opens itself to the sky fills its heart with light for the sake of birds and people and the sky gives answer..."

About the artist: For over 25 years, Erik Olsson has worked at the intersection of light design and art, as part of the duo Olsson & Linder. Together they have carried out projects worldwide, often in close collaboration with people on site. Their work explores the power of light to create encounters – between people, places, and stories.

8. DIVINE GEOMETRY

Konstnär: Those Guys Lighting

About the artwork: Divine Geometry aims to take you on an inner journey. With 24 laser beams in a ring and a specially composed soundtrack, it creates an experience that many describe as both personal and emotionally powerful.

The 30-minute soundtrack, created by the award-winning Latvian sound designer Pēteris Pāss, is woven together with the light into a hypnotic whole.

The work revolves around the complexity and harmony of nature. The ring symbolizes the connection between life, nature, and the mathematical beauty that permeates the universe – a reminder of the interconnectedness of all things.

About the artist:
Those Guys Lighting is an art collective from Riga, Latvia, consisting of engineers, light designers, and programmers united by a common passion for light. Since their start in 2018, they have grown from a small studio to an established team with an international presence. Their goal: to create epic experiences of light.

Artist: Mollu Heino

About the artwork: Källa (Source/Spring) can refer to a natural water source – or something that flows from an inner core. We draw from the source when we carry water from the well, life force from the light, or knowledge from books.

The artwork consists of a multitude of transparent buckets, specially made to spread light. Together they create a room of light pillars that visitors can walk through. Källa embodies both flow and stillness: a spring seeping from the ground, a light source that provides warmth, something that radiates. We are drawn to light – and in the darkness, we particularly seek it.

The artwork has previously been shown at City of Lights in Jyväskylä, OuluLumo: Ii Light Festival, and Rauma Art Museum.

About the artist: Mollu Heino lives and works in Finland. She has studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Aalto University. Her primary means of expression are painting, light, and three-dimensional materials, often with nature and humanity's role in the world as themes.

10. EN STJÄRNHIMMEL AV IDÉER

Artist: Students from schools in Linköping

About the artwork: This is En stjärnhimmel av idéer (A Starry Sky of Ideas).  Look up at a luminous installation where students from schools in Linköping have allowed their creativity to take center stage. Every lamp in "A Starry Sky of Ideas" is unique – decorated by students with colors, patterns, and materials of their own choosing. Together they form a canopy of imagination, collaboration, and community. Each lamp tells its own story – while simultaneously becoming part of something larger.

Tanneforsskolan:
The students in class 5A have let their imaginations soar far beyond everyday life—all the way into outer space. Through colorful drawings, they explore dreams of the future, magical winter landscapes, and adventurous worlds inspired by everything from Disney to Super Mario. This is where curiosity, the joy of creation, and imagination meet.

Kulturskolan (The Culture School):
Over two Saturdays, creative workshops were held at Kulturskolan for children aged 10–12, focusing on creating and decorating lamps. A total of 42 children participated. They created fantastic lamps, sometimes in groups and sometimes individually, in a process where they constantly inspired one another. The lamps emerged from the children's imagination, creativity, and inventive thoughts, combined with a practical exploration of how the constructions would hold together.

About the artist: Students from Kulturskolan, Folkungaskolan, Fridtunaskolan, and Tanneforsskolan have created and decorated the work together.

Ljuskonstnär: Johan Nilsson

Artist: Johan Nilsson

About the artwork: Create your own color magic with Show Me Colours. When everything feels grey and dull – play with light! Here, you can control the colors yourself in this interactive light artwork.

Hold up an object of any color in front of the sensor and watch as the light on the wall changes to the same color. A red apple becomes a red wall, a blue mitten becomes a blue glow. Experiment, explore – and see how your choices transform the room in real time.

About the artist: Johan Nilsson, originally from Värmland, is a Norrköping resident with a lifelong passion for technology and light. Since the 1990s, he has explored how these elements can be united to create experiences that touch the viewer. With Show Me Colours, he invites you to become part of the artwork yourself.

LIGHT SPOT: DRÖMMARNAS KORRIDOR

This is Drömmarnas korridor (Corridor of Dreams). Like our whimsical dreams, the light flows through Rosengången (the Rose Walk) – constantly changing, alive, and unpredictable. Step in and let yourself be guided by the glow, watch as the hearts awaken, and the corridor transforms into a journey through the world of dreams.

During Vinterljus 2019, a permanent light artwork was established in what is known as Rosengången – here in the passage between the Cathedral and Linköping Konsert & Kongress. Corridor of Dreams was created in collaboration between Vinterljus and Tekniska Verken as part of the initiative for safer and more vibrant urban environments.

For Vinterljus 2025, the artwork is getting a new form – Tekniska verken has reprogrammed the light's shapes and colors so that both new and returning visitors can rediscover the passage's dreamlike play of light in a new version.

LIGHT SPOT: FEMTE ELEMENTET

As the evenings grow darker, Femte elementet (The Fifth Element) emerges in a new light. The sculpture, created by Raha Rastifard from Stockholm, is a twelve-sided form, just over two meters high, made of mirror-polished steel plate. The intricate cut-out pattern is inspired by Persian shutters and Plato's idea of the world as a geometric projection. The work was developed through a national open call where Östergötlands museum sought artistic installations for its outdoor space. By day, The Fifth Element catches the sunlight where it stands on the pumphouse outside the museum's entrance. When night falls, the light is illuminated from within, and the sculpture's pattern is projected onto the museum's long wall and the reflecting pool – a tranquil play of form, reflection, and movement.  

LIGHT SPOT: SYNS DU?

This is Syns du? (Are You Visible?) When darkness falls, what’s important isn’t always seen – you, for example. The light in "Are You Visible?" reminds us how simple it can be to make a difference. Not everyone has their own reflector tree, but a single reflector can create safety – for yourself and for everyone you meet.

The tree lights up the darkness with reflective shapes and becomes a reminder of how every movement, every glimpse, means something. The light reflects back what we often take for granted – the visibility that keeps us safe.

We want all people of Östergötland to get home safely every day. "Are You Visible?" is part of Länsförsäkringar Östgöta's work for increased traffic safety during the dark season – an artwork that is as much about care as it is about light.

Every Saturday and Sunday from 16:30–18:30, Länsförsäkringar Östgöta will be handing out reflectors to all visitors by the tree.