Curators

Lux Helsinki 2026 is organised and produced by the Helsinki Events Foundation. The festival’s Artistic Director is Juha Rouhikoski, and the curatorial team also includes Elisa Hillgen, Mia Kivinen, Katja Muttilainen, and Jyrki Sinisalo.

Elisa Hillgen is a lighting multi-tasker with years of experience in urban lighting and light events, including working as the lighting coordinator for the City of Jyväskylä. As a member of the City of Light event team, and as a producer of professional seminars and smaller light events, Hillgen has built a strong network in the lighting industry. She utilizes this accumulated experience in her current position as the Managing Director of the Finnish Illuminating Engineering Society. Hillgen has also implemented her own light artworks for events and gallery exhibitions. In her artistic work, she is particularly interested in light phenomena and the combination of movement and colors in the play of light and shadow. Hillgen’s strong area of expertise also includes brainstorming the technical execution of artworks and swift problem-solving.

Mia Kivinen is a Master’s level lighting designer and curator. In addition to consulting for the main program, she has curated the Lantern Park, the Lux In exhibition, and the artwork Ilon kuvia (Images of Joy) for Senate Square at Lux Helsinki. Kivinen is a founding member of FLASH, the Finnish Light Art Society, and works within its framework and independently as a builder of the international light art community. In addition to curating, she lectures on light art to a wide variety of audiences and teaches it at the University of the Arts Helsinki. Kivinen travels by train across Europe, aiming to see as many light art events as possible, and enjoys writing about them. If Kivinen isn’t talking about light art for fifteen minutes, she has probably fallen asleep.

Katja Muttilainen is, by basic education, a light and lighting designer, a creative arts professional, and a lighting teacher. Muttilainen has designed and implemented numerous lighting designs for theater and contemporary dance since 1998, and today primarily uses light, lighting, and augmented reality (AR) applications as her tools. In her art, work, and curating, Muttilainen is interested in encounters; participation and communication, as well as creative, communal knowledge sharing. In addition to light art, Muttilainen is passionate about travel, skiing, humor, and, of course, exceptionally good coffee.

The Finnish Light Art Society FLASH promotes light art in Finland and internationally. The association brings together light artists, lighting designers, artists from various fields, curators, researchers, as well as professionals from the lighting and events industries and others interested in light art.

FLASH supports the development of light art, strengthens its visibility, and promotes collaboration among operators in the field. It advances the internationalization of the field, builds bridges between different actors and countries, and enables two-way cooperation. FLASH is an internationally unique, non-partisan light art association that works fairly to strengthen the status of light art and its creators in Finland and globally.

Juha Rouhikoski is the Artistic Director and Chief Curator of Lux Helsinki.

Rouhikoski has dedicated his career to exploring the possibilities of light – its ability to bring spaces to life, create community, and generate insights. He holds a Master of Arts in Theater Arts, is a doctoral candidate at the Academy of Fine Arts, and also works as the Production Manager for Verkatehdas in Hämeenlinna.

As the Artistic Director of Lux Helsinki, Rouhikoski wants to strengthen the position of light art in Finland and elevate the festival more prominently onto the international light art map. He believes that light as a medium of artistic expression can bring contemporary art closer to every person. Light art in urban space makes the environment pleasant, inspiring, and culturally rich.

“Lux is a place where the city transforms into a stage and light gets to tell its story. My task as Artistic Director is to ensure that this story is simultaneously ambitious, diverse in voice, and open to all audiences.”

Jyrki Sinisalo is a light artist who graduated from the Theatre Academy, and in his career spanning over 40 years, he has been a key influencer in the development of light art and lighting design in Finland. His works are widely visible in both domestic and international exhibitions. Sinisalo’s production emphasizes light, shadow, and recycled materials, as well as the interaction between the viewer and the artwork. He has worked as a lecturer at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, in several professional theaters, and as a curator for Lux galleries. Recently, he has focused on exhibiting his light artworks and on lighting design for public art pieces. Central to his artistic philosophy are dialogue, experientialism, and moving the viewer. For him, the task of art is to make things visible and generate new experiences.