REFLEKTOR Light Festival has come to an end.
More than 15.000 people stopped by REFLEKTOR17 to explore bright moments under the dark skies of Søndermarken. Thanks to all of you – it’s been a wonderful journey and we’ve come a long way in just two years.
REFLEKTOR17 marks the closure of REFLEKTOR Light Festival – though we’re not done working with light.
Get in touch if you have any bright and shiny ideas that you want to share with us!
REFLEKTOR Light Festival is a festival for the senses and the mind exploring our experience
of light.
Pictures from REFLEKTOR 2017. Photo: Kim Matthäi Leland.
About Reflektor
Light Festival
REFLEKTOR is a new type of festival aiming to nurture curiosity and empower human discoveries of light. The festival is a culmination of light artists and other light explorers coming together with the public to explore and celebrate the boundaries of light.
When darkness falls and the melancholy of the fall quietly sneaks up on the city of Copenhagen, REFLEKTOR is opening up Søndermarken gardens to showcase evocative light art installations exhibited among high treetops and wild growing nature.
Infused with inspirational and explorative light talks, guided walks and key notes, the festival will provide the audience with a space for a spiritual break, reflection, quiet contemplation. Collectively, it offers new perspectives and understandings of how modern day life and it’s daily routines are intertwined with the light that surrounds us.
Behind the festival is a group of dedicated light geeks who are bringing their professional backgrounds in design, art, architecture and anthropology to the table — all in pursuit of bringing you evocative and carefully curated experiences with light.
REFLEKTOR 2017: Light & Dark
This year’s theme “Light & Dark” brings the inherent relationship between light and darkness to the table. Darkness is as important to our lives as light is – a factor often neglected in modern society, which can be pre-occupied with speed and efficiency. This year we treat darkness as a point of departure for dealing with light.
Through the arts and events program we address the two phenomena, Light and Dark, as complementary rather than contradictory. We are set on a quest to explore the balance between light and darkness, to communicate the emotive qualities of light and darkness and to give a voice to why darkness matters as much as light does.
Arts
For REFLEKTOR 2017 we have hand-picked artists and designers from Denmark and the rest of the world to create light art installations made especially for Søndermarken. In contrast to highly-illuminated urban settings, the park provides the light installations with a rare, giant, and dark backdrop. With its wild growing nature and unexplored dark spaces, the scene is set for a unique experience of light and darkness in the park.
Events
Through a colourful mix of talks, walks and maker events we investigate the qualities of light and darkness. We put the human experience at the center of our event program and invite everyone to join us for co-creation sessions, knowledge building debates and other playful examinations of light & dark.
Talk!
Pick the brains of experts in light at REFLEKTOR SPACE, as urban planners, architects, ethnologists and many more discuss the influence of light and darkness in our everyday life.
Walk!
Explore the dark corners of Søndermarken and listen to the stories behind the light installations when light enthusiasts, darkness activists and many more take you on explorative walks through the park.
Make!
Play around with light effects and explore what light does in your hands at REFLEKTOR LAB, where innovation makers host workshops and create new meanings of light.
Program
Thursday, Oct 5
SPACE
18.30—19.00 OFFICIAL OPENING Light and Dark →
Keynote speech by Tor Nørretranders co-author of the book “Lys!/Light!” with Olafur Eliasson
— In Danish
20.00—20.45 TALK Light and light art in the city – pollution or enhancement? →
Light debate with The Danish Lighting Innovation Network
Moderator: Catja Thystrup, Innovation Manager, Lighting Metropolis — In Danish
LAB
19.00—21.00 MAKE Photo walk with light effects →
Open workshop with photographer Astrid Maria B. Rasmussen — In Danish/English
21.00—23.00 MAKE Open LAB
Explore pop-up art and light experiments at first hand
THE CISTERNS
18.00—23.00
Visit The Cisterns during REFLEKTOR, to get the possibility to experience Hiroshi Sambuichi’s installation ‘The Water’ in a different setting →
Friday, Oct 6
SPACE
19.00—19.30 TALK The Nordic DNA of Light & Darkness →
Keynote talk by Head of Lighting Design, Tivoli, Jesper Kongshaug
+ 19.30-19.45 Pop-up talk by artist and director Sidse Carstens — In Danish
21.00—22.00 WALK Darkness walk with soundscapes →
Walk by art collective MYRKR — In Danish
LAB
18.30—20.30 MAKE Make your own glowing badge →
Light workshop for kids by Copenhagen FabLab — In Danish/English
21.00—23.00 MAKE Open LAB
Explore pop-up art and light experiments at first hand
THE CISTERNS
18.00—23.00 Visit The Cisterns during REFLEKTOR, to get the possibility to experience Hiroshi Sambuichi’s installation ‘The Water’ in a different setting →
Saturday, Oct 7
SPACE
19.00—19.45 TALK Life before electricity – the history of light & darkness →
Keynote by Swedish ethnologist and historian Jan Garnert — In Swedish/Scandinavian
+ 19.45—20.00 Pop-up talk by light humanitarian Mathilde Byskov — In Danish
20.00—21.00 WALK Meet the curator and the artists behind REFLEKTOR →
Art walk by festival curator Ann-Kathrine Skjødt and artists — In English
20.30—21.30 + 21.30—22.30 MAKE Light Hack: Lighting designer for the night →
Light workshop by REFLEKTOR — In Danish/English
LAB
19.00—20.00 + 20.00—21.00 MAKE From idea to light installation →
Light workshop by REFLEKTOR artist Obscura Vertigo — In Danish
21.00—23.00 MAKE Open LAB
Explore pop-up art and light experiments at first hand
THE CISTERNS
18.00—23.00 Visit The Cisterns during REFLEKTOR, to get the possibility to experience Hiroshi Sambuichi’s installation ‘The Water’ in a different setting →
Main Partners

REFLEKTOR TEAM
Christina Dvinge (Festival Manager & Founder)
Head of Development & Communication christina@reflektorlightfestival.com
Ann-Kathrine Skjødt (Founder)
Head of Art & Curating
annkathrine@reflektorlightfestival.com
Naija Nygaard (Founder)
Head of Lighting Design
naija@reflektorlightfestival.com
Sofia Ivarsson
Head of Design
sofia@reflektorlightfestival.com

OFFICE ADDRESS
Foreningen REFLEKTOR Light Festival
Baggesensgade 4C,
2200 — København N