While there are times of the year when the sun never completely sets, there are also days when there are only a few hours of sunlight, or when it is dark around the clock. The Nordic region has a special relationship with light: There is an expression that claims the mark of a true Norwegian is feeling guilty for staying inside when it is sunny outside. From the absence of sunlight to its continued or continuous presence, and with the transcendent experience that are the Northern Lights in between, this is a climatic and, indeed, cultural condition that very few people can completely appreciate. And this is exactly why the “Nordic Light” exhibit at the Nordisca Museet, Stockholm’s Nordic Museum, is the most qualified introduction to it.

The museum itself is an imposing work of architectural art. Its banquet hall, where the Nordic Light exhibit is hosted, is dominated by high arches and pillars that fill the 126 metre long, 15 metre wide and 24 metre high space with a gothic feel that directly speaks to the sense of reverence towards the sunlight, which the exhibition stresses. In the absence of sunlight, there is the moon. And in the absence of the moon, there is invention. From candles to lamps, to lightbulbs –all the ways that people have tried to bring light into their lives are narrated through an installation designed by Note.