This year’s Lumo Light Festival will bring light to the late autumn darkness on 17 – 19 November in Oulu. The festival will take place mainly in the city centre and the Hupisaaret City Park area, but regional events around the city will also be organised.
The theme of the festival this year is well-being of the mind, which is highlighted in several installations. The focal piece is the immersive production NIGHTTOWN directed by Pirjo Yli-Maunula of Flow Productions and realised within the premises of Taidetalo Kulttuuripankki venue. The piece is linked to the ULYSSES European Odyssey (UEO) project in which the 18 episodes of James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses are produced in different European cities, one episode per city.
Flow’s multi-disciplinary, international team approaches the stream of consciousness behind Joyce’s text by turning the viewer’s experience into a journey through subconscious visions, nocturnal dreams, and hallucinations, as inspired by episode number 15 of the novel. Entry to NIGHTTOWN is free of charge for spectators, but pre-booking is required. The pre-booking for the shows begins on 17 October. The show contains strong scenes and is not recommended for children under 15 years of age.
The festival programme also includes ‘Softness’, a lounge produced in collaboration with Hyvän mielen talo and Kulttuurivoimala, bringing forward the uplifting stories of people recovering from mental health issues. In conjunction with the Softness lounge, also the festival audience will have the opportunity to present their own views on the challenges of mental well-being in Europe in the future. These challenges will be brought up in a creative statement of the UEO project which will be published in 2024, compiling the challenges collected in all the partner cities.
The entire programme of the festival will be published on 30 October, comprising approximately 20 installations.