Bernd Nicolaisen: Restlicht - Opening Exhibition of Oulu European Capital of Culture 2026

AaltoSiilo opens its exhibition programme for Oulu European Capital of Culture 2026 with Bernd Nicolaisen: Restlicht, a luminous and atmospheric presentation of the Swiss artist’s long-term collaboration with Factum Arte and Factum Foundation.

For nearly a decade, Nicolaisen has worked closely with Factum to explore hidden landscapes — from the interior of glaciers to the shadowed strata of Australia’s Pilbara and the surfaces of comet 67P. His images are the result of fieldwork, scientific cooperation, and a meticulous digital-to-physical process that reveals intricate structures normally invisible to the human eye.

Restlicht (Residual Light) brings together this ongoing research through a focused selection of large-scale lightboxes (150 × 120 × 15 cm) and medium-format works (65.4 × 55.8 cm), each one suspended between abstraction and geological truth. The exhibition highlights a shared commitment to documenting fragile environments at a moment when they are undergoing rapid transformation. This marks the first official exhibition at AaltoSiilo and coincides with the inauguration of the venue’s Ice Sauna, a new temporary addition to the restored industrial site.

Once a sulphite cellulose silo, AaltoSiilo is being reactivated as a cultural, artistic and scientific hub — and Nicolaisen’s work opens the year with a clear statement of intent: precision, research, beauty, and material awareness.

Restlicht invites visitors to explore the fragile threshold between what remains and what is fading, mirroring AaltoSiilo’s own shift from industrial structure to cultural space.

A collaboration between AaltoSiilo, Factum Foundation and Bernd Nicolaisen. This exhibition is made possible by Charlotte Skene Catling, Adam Lowe, Otto Lowe, Valentino Tignanelli and Oulu European Capital of Culture 2026.

Location: AaltoSiilo, Alvar Aallon katu, 5, 90520, Oulu, Finland
AaltoSiilo Ry: Valentino Tignanelli
Factum Foundation: Nicolas Béliard | Giulia Fornaciari