We live in a world shaped by climate change, where human activity continues to destabilize nature’s fragile balance. A fairytale-like vine entwines the lamp posts of the square, its unnatural-looking blossoms coming to life in the darkness. Its glowing, beautiful light mesmerizes the viewer, yet hides a dangerous message: beneath the flourishing shell lies the stifling power of an invasive species taking over the habitat.

The artwork, Vaarallinen karkulainen, was created from food industry plastic waste in collaboration with primary school students from Hämeenlinna and Kotka as part of the EU-funded Loistoluokka project. In Hämeenlinna, the artist’s partner design class was the 3rd and 4th grade of Eteläiset School. Students from Alvettula, Eteläiset, Miemala, Nummi, and Rengo schools in Hämeenlinna participated in the creation of the piece. In total, over 300 children from Kotka and Hämeenlinna have been involved in making the artwork.

Helsinki-based Suvi Saastamoinen works at the intersection of art, landscape architecture, and light, and is part of the interdisciplinary Studio Sisu. Her work emphasizes the relationship between humans and nature, site-specificity, and surprising compositions that utilize the circular economy.

The Pig Farm project, created by Czech art students, is an interactive light art installation featuring playful light-pigs made from recycled water barrels. The pigs are inspired by the spring riders found in playgrounds, allowing the youngest family members to climb on their backs. When the pigs are gently patted on the back, they change color, offering a fun and engaging experience. The artwork playfully combines everyday objects into an original installation.

Valoeläimet are unique creatures created in HIL hobby groups, each carrying its own lamp. Together, these colorful light animals form a glowing installation within their containers in the square.

The design and implementation of the project were led by art educators Noora Tirkkonen, Sarina Pulkka, and TainaMaria Savimäki, who guided the HIL groups, in collaboration with the ARX team.

A mysterious micro-world comes to life in the autumn darkness of the Market Square Park. Hyönteislaakso a collaborative installation by young artists from the art schools of Tartu and Hämeenlinna, explores biodiversity and metamorphosis, revealing the hidden lives of both utopian and realistic insects.

Hyönteislaakso invites the viewer on an expedition along dim paths, where a curious eye and UV light unveil the creatures and details hidden by the darkness. Without visitors, the artwork remains almost entirely dark, as it only awakens when light touches its mysterious inhabitants.

You can borrow a UV lamp to explore the artwork from the Light Library (Valolainaamo) in the square.

Projected onto the church facade, video artist Eira Enkvist’s work explores the essence of beauty and light. What is beauty, and what makes something beautiful? To center the perspectives of children, the video was created based on active, participatory interviews with children aged 1–10. The result is a large-scale video piece, spanning the entire facade of the church, where children draw and paint their thoughts into visibility. The artwork’s soundscape further enhances this theme, featuring children’s voices reflecting on the meaning of beauty and light.

Eira Enkvist (b. 1986) is a video artist based in Hämeenlinna. She specialized in spatial and media art while completing her Master of Arts in Ghent, Belgium. Enkvist is well-known to many through ARX events and Hippalot workshops. Since 2017, she has served as an art educator and producer at the ARX Cultural Centre.

True to its name, Värilotto is a color-light lottery. Press the button and roll the dice for a colorful light display on the facade of the Provincial Government building (Lääninhallitus). Which lighting is your favorite? Do you and your companions agree, or do you have different tastes?

Matt Fillion is a lighting professional and designer based in Hämeenlinna, specializing in event and performance lighting. Fillion’s expertise has also been evident in previous years’ Valoilmiö.

Taivaanreikiä are small apertures in our familiar reality. They are places through which light from another world filters into our own.

Inspired by NOO’s song Reikii, this work contemplates light that finds its way through the darkness. The light is not entirely permanent or certain, for sometimes even the sky-holes tremble.

Juha and Oliver Rouhikoski are a father and son who both work with light. Juha Rouhikoski is a light artist and designer with over three decades of experience. He serves as the artistic director and curator of the Lux Helsinki light art festival and conducts artistic research on light at the Academy of Fine Arts, Uniarts Helsinki.

Oliver Rouhikoski began working with light in 2021 and is currently studying lighting design in the lighting design program at the Theatre Academy, Uniarts Helsinki. Taivaanreikiä brings their two generations of experience and visions of light together in a joint artwork for the first time.

Valoniitty (The Light Meadow) is a colorful artwork created in collaboration with children from early childhood education groups. Through workshops, the children explored the concept of symmetry, which inspired them to design their own unique flowers.

Crafted from colored films, these flowers form a glowing light meadow in the windows, where each blossom is one-of-a-kind and reflects the vision of its creator. The name of the artwork was also invented by the children.

The design and implementation of the Light Meadow were led by art educator Sarina Pulkka, who guided the workshops, in collaboration with the ARX team.

Kuhiseva varjo is a playful light artwork created during the Pimeä ARXantai event. Families participating in the event’s workshop crafted various bugs, letting their imaginations run wild. Now, these creatures have gathered to lead a mysterious nocturnal life behind the window, scurrying and buzzing about.

The design and implementation of the Kuhiseva varjo piece were led by art educators Sarina Pulkka and Saana Siivonen, who guided the workshop, in collaboration with the ARX team.

In this installation, the builders of the future meet the oldest forms of history. Created collaboratively by primary school students from Hämeenlinna and Veikko Lappalainen, this light art piece brings Plato’s solids to life in the glow of UV light. The floating elements are like playful thoughts, shaping a new, luminous reality from sacred geometry. The work was realized as part of the EU-funded Loistoluokka project. The artist’s partner design class was the 6th grade of Ortela School. In total, over 150 students from the 5th and 6th grades of Jukola, Kirkonkulma, Lammi, Ortela, and Seminaari schools participated in the creation of the piece.

Veikko Lappalainen is a long-time light artist living in the archipelago of Turku and the founder of the Flowers of Life collective. He has over 20 years of experience in light art, and the works of Flowers of Life have been exhibited internationally in 26 countries.

The artwork Import / Export Finland contemplates the global image of Finland and what we choose to present of our country to the world. What is that other side of the truth—the side that cannot withstand the light of day?

The piece illuminates the duality of Finland’s international image. On one hand, we proudly showcase our presidents’ skills in golf and peace negotiations, while behind the scenes, we spend millions on missiles from a country that tramples on human rights. Finland is for sale at a discount, as Google clears the forests and mining giants rake in the profits. Yet, tourists are lured by the untouched tundra landscapes and the Finns’ special relationship with nature.

The work is a bipolar analogue projection, and its imagery was created in collaboration with the fine arts class of Kauriala High School. The youth were introduced to the themes of the piece through ’Erätauko’ discussions and artist meetings. The work is on display in the courtyard of Hämeenlinna’s old bus station.

Immanuel Pax’s exhibition LuxPax1 presents a broader selection of works by the artist, who has recently made Hämeenlinna his home, inside the Bus Station.

He olivat täällä invites us to reflect on the people who lived before us. The work consists of glowing figures crafted from bent steel wire, whose accessories and clothing evoke a bygone era. The piece contains layers from different periods, spanning the 1700s and 1800s. What kind of life did the woman carrying a parasol lead? And what of the man bearing a heavy load? What do you know about the people who lived in Hämeenlinna before us and the lives they led?

Alexander Reichstein has been developing the work since 2016, and several different versions have been exhibited across Finland and Europe. The gallery of characters has grown to include people from various places and times, inspired by old photographs and artworks.

Based in Helsinki, Alexander Reichstein is a versatile visual artist with roots in illustration and media art. Reichstein is particularly known for participatory exhibitions for children and a series of light works started in 2016. As a light artist, Reichstein works with three-dimensional objects and UV light.

Siivekkäät yössä is an installation in Pinella park that brings one of the park’s trees to life through light and movement. Glowing in UV light, wire birds form a solemn flock around and within the branches, appearing to float in the twilight like a nocturnal journey of migratory birds paused for a moment. Some of the birds perch on the branches observing their surroundings, while others are suspended in flight. Together, they create an impression of shimmering movement and the continuous rhythm of nature.

The work was inspired by Alexander Reichstein’s piece He olivat täällä. The birds, crafted from iron wire and metal mesh, were created by lower secondary school students from Hämeenlinna during Kulttuuripolku extra workshops. The workshops were held at Nummi Comprehensive School, Lyceo School, and Hämeenlinna Joint Comprehensive School. The design and implementation of the installation were led by ARX art educator Saana Siivonen, who guided the workshops, in collaboration with the ARX team.

Sinisen loiste is a work exploring the concept of beauty, utilizing a historical photographic technique called cyanotype. The piece is composed of unique prints created by young artists, which have been layered with watercolors.

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process developed in the 1840s that produces one-of-a-kind images when a light-sensitive chemical solution reacts to UV light.

The images created by the youth have been compiled into a presentation that, together with the facade lighting of Verkatehdas, forms Sinisen loiste. The students of the optional fine arts groups in the 8th grade of Hämeenlinnan Lyseo participated in the creation of the work under the guidance of ARX art educator Mikko Kerttula.

Kasvu is a luminous work glowing in the windows of Kulttuurikeskus ARX, telling a story of growing up together.

It is the story of a small human seedling, growing from the first heartbeat through the games of childhood and toward young adulthood. Beside this growth climbs a vine. It grows, reaches out, and eventually blooms, just as we do.

The artwork was created in the groups of the children’s and youth’s art school at Vanajaveden Opisto. The design of the piece is by Laura Valo.