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Society Expo

2026

light

Light winds through an exhibition about the energy that connects nature, people and a city's future.

Society Expo Exhibition takes place at Skellefteå museum on Nordanå. Part of Society Expo 2026, the exhibition tells the story of Skellefteå's transformation through sound, light, projections and environments that respond to visitors. Four parts follow the energy of nature, people, society and the future.

Amber LED light glows from channels inside split tree trunks, surrounded by blue river and tree projections in a dark room.
A group gathers beneath a curving blue and amber light line beside the round wooden hydropower tunnel.

The journey begins with forest, rock and water. Visitors follow the river through a recreation of the Finnfors hydropower tunnel, where water becomes electricity. In this first room, light runs through real tree trunks. We cut the trees in half and left them to dry for a few months, then drilled a channel and fitted the LED cable inside. We used WS2815 LEDs at 96 LEDs per metre, QuinLED controllers and custom software to control the light.

Blue light fills a passage between a listening wall and a hand-coloured mural, with luminous lines continuing across the ceiling.
Glowing white lines loop above a narrow passage between an orange display frame and translucent panels.

Rose Hallgren built the cloud suspended above the greenhouse. Light catches its rounded surface, while glowing lines run between the installations overhead. Across the room, blue, green, pink and amber give each part of the exhibition its own atmosphere.

A visitor looks into reflective display boxes edged with orange and pink light.
An empty exhibition room with a greenhouse, blue slide and winding overhead lights connecting colourful suspended cubes.
Two visitors sit on a yellow bench inside the translucent greenhouse beneath the suspended cloud and winding lights.
An adult holds a child reaching for a yellow hand-shaped touch panel, beside a glowing loop of light and a white bust.

Visitors can leave recorded reflections, listen to one another and add colour to a shared mural. Children and young people helped shape the exhibition through workshops and a public preview, bringing their own ideas into the rooms. The story of the city keeps growing with the people who enter it.

Visitors explore the exhibition beneath winding white lights, with a blue slide and pink, blue and orange displays.
Visitors stand beside the warmly lit greenhouse, with the cloud and looping light lines overhead.

I did the lighting with Try New Things and loved working with their team. Everyone put their heart into every part of the build, from the 3D printed joints to the signs, trees, endless wiring, wireless connections and sensors. They brought the same care to guiding the scenography students and making it all come together on site. I hope we get to do it again, and I look forward to many more visits to their beautiful office in Skellefteå. Jonas Westling and Pär Olofsson photographed the exhibition, and Try New Things made the film. Find more images and videos on their press page.

The full Society Expo exhibition film follows visitors through the river projections, historical displays, listening stations, shared mural and colourful interactive rooms.