Art of darkess path

pikisaari island, OULU

Finland

Pikisaari Island (in English: Pitch Island) is a combination of an idyllic wooden district, old industrial milieu and unique artists’ community accessible through the pedestrian bridge from the Oulu Market Square. Pikisaari got its name from an old pitch works founded in the 17th century.

More on Pikisaari island

Besides that, the island has housed shipyards, a sawmill, a distillery, a wool mill, and a machine workshop. Relics of that industrial history are still visible on the island. Nowadays the island is the home and studio for many artists and artisans.

Pikisaari Island has residential and industrial buildings as well as granaries from the 18th and 19th centuries as well as the early 20th century. Many of the original wooden houses remain standing, although several fires have occurred on the island. The oldest wooden building in Oulu, originally built in 1737–1739 in another location, accommodates now the Sailor’s Home Museum.

Along the same street situates an old, decorative office of the local machine workshop from the 1880s, nowadays used as a residential house. It represents the neo-renaissance style with a tower that is a notable landmark among the houses on the island. At the heart of the island situates some visitor accommodation, and there are charming restaurants, too.

Besides cultural heritage values, the island represents typical nature type of the area – geological upthrust and river delta formation. Half of the island is still covered with a forest and an unilluminated walking trail goes around the shores of the island forming a popular recreation route during the summer.

pilot site goal

A section of the walking path along the shoreline of Pikisaari Island is the actual pilot trial area in Oulu, which will be developed into the Art of Darkness path.

The path will offer citizens and visitors a safe and attractive opportunity to enjoy the natural darkness of the island and the river delta area; the industrial history with views over the water to the Oulu present-day factory area; and the light art along the route reflecting the island’s past and present day as stories.

The aim is to, besides presenting temporary light art during the Cultural capital year or 2026, to pilot permanent, small scale lighting solutions, which would serve the needs of temporary light art installations and other events to be arranged in the area (electricity, network connection) and form a platform for future uses.

With the pilot trial, the aim is to find a balance between the needs of the cultural heritage site visitors relating to the safety and experience of art, and the well-being of non-human inhabitants of the island. The permanent lighting infrastructure and the light art installations will be co-designed with the inhabitants, CCIs professionals and students, societies of Pikisaari island and Oulu, and local municipalities. The path is coupled with an audio guide – a soundscape in earphones supplementing the experience in the dark forest with a presence of a virtual companion.

The Oulu municipality aims also to have a dedicated part-time expert (consultancy purchase), who supports the creative lighting design in Oulu and coordinates lighting-related cooperation between different municipal organisations within the city of Oulu and among other actors involved in the piloting. The expert will take part in the project’s international Art of Darkness network and bring learnings within the city of Oulu, and reciprocally export Oulu’s expertise to other European regions.

The pilot trial will make the route, which is presently seldomly used during the dark, to an attractive route for tourists and citizens alike also during long and dark winter season of Oulu. During the Oulu2026 events, 200 000 visitors will see the pilot site with the light art exhibition, the theme of which is promoting the cultural and natural values of darkness. With the audio guide, information of the project’s ecological impact and innovative design principles is given in an experiential form as a story with sound-art – to promote the Art of Darkness approach in an effective way.

The production of light art installations will employ recycled and renewable materials, and the aim is to recycle chosen art pieces in other light festivals. The piloted concept of sustainable lighting and electricity supply infrastructure can be replicated in other sensitive natural heritage areas in Oulu, as well as in other European districts.

In the future, the permanent infrastructure enables continuation of temporary light art events along the route. Piloted concept of Art of Darkness expert forms a model for future applications.

Local stakeholders and networks

There are five active societies in the Pikisaari Island and in Oulu developing cultural activities (exhibitions, art projects, creative work) on the island (e.g. Vanha villatehdas ry., Proto ry., Oulu Urban Culture), residents living and CCIs professionals working there.
In Oulu there are also several educational institutions (including UOULU with architecture and lighting design) educating CCIs professionals with a wide range of subjects.
The City of Oulu will be the European Cultural Capital in 2026 and is a member of Culture Next network and belongs to Unesco Creative Cities network with the theme media art.