Forces of Light has since 1995 been inspiring the people of Helsinki to engage in dialogue with an environment preparing for winter. The spotlight has been on art, design and club culture; it has made a statement on urban culture and introduced fire and new circus to light up the darkest time of the year.

Basically Forces of Light seeks to examine the numerous meanings of art in contemporary society. Art is created and interpreted in social, economic and cultural contexts. Forces of Light is a space and situation in which the experiences of doers and viewers are interwoven. It is a search for new working methods, networking and re-interpretation.

Forces of Light #7, 2001

The available resources having been radically reduced since the climax of Helsinki's year as City of Culture in 2000, Forces of Light is now "shedding its skin". In other words, what the public will see in 2001 are the seeds of the festivals of the future. Forces of Light is also updating its visual identity and returning to square one: viewing things in a different light.

SPACE + SITUATION: the Esplanade + Vesala

This year Forces of Light is launching projects and spatial entities in and around Esplanade Park, in the very heart of the city. The Esplanade is a forum for dialogue with all kinds of audiences and Helsinkis. The festival will also be taking an excursion to the suburb of Vesala 15 kilometres from the city centre. The mission, both in the city centre and at Vesala, is to establish dialogue between residents and their surroundings by momentarily revealing the environment in a different light. The aim is also to create a link between two completely different urban spaces.

Vesala will be featuring lighting and other projects exploring the local scenery. The aim is to stimulate thought among the local residents about the urban space and living environment, and to encourage them to make their own domain a friendlier place to live in during the dark season of the year.

This year Forces of Light will, through a few individual projects, also be branching out to other parts of the city. The Forces of Light works are all part of the situation, place and context in which they are created. The objective is to create spaces and situations conducive to open dialogue between the city, its inhabitants and occasional passers-by.

VISION; PRODUCTION

Over the next few years Forces of Light will be revising the way it operates. The defiance of definition that has characterised previous years has been one of the festival's strengths, but it has also blurred its image. The festival therefore intends to filter out the best of the past few years and to use it to create a new production framework.

In addition to being a producer, Forces of Light is also a product. It is constantly seeking out new channels for dialogue with both the commercial and the cultural environment, acting as an incubator for non-profit-making art projects just as much as for more commercial productions.