Lights in Alingsås prepared for the future
The plans for the second decade are based on strong and sustainable developments and decisions.
VIA Sweden AB was founded to develop Lights in Alingsås.
Lights in Alingsås is prepared for the upcoming years. The Kommun of Alingsås has now secured the next three years of the successful event in October every year.
About two years ago the Alingsås Council defined lighting design as being one of the three main elements of the City's vision for 2019. The main event in the town, Lights in Alingsås, now has a tradition of ten years to look back on, and enjoys an important place on the Alingsås event calendar.
Over the last few years discussions have taken place on how Lights in Alingsås in particular and Lighting Design in general could be secured and developed as an important feature of the town's culture in the future.
The solution is a company called VIA Sweden, which was specifically founded to answer Alingsås's puroise. VIA Sweden now has the overall responsibility for realising the Lights in Alingsås event and to secure the quality, without raising the financial burden for the town council. The plan is also to be active all year long and not only in October. This idea is in line with the creation of ALC- Alingsås Lighting Center - An International Arena for Lighting Design and Technology.
VIA Sweden AB is a sister company of VIA-Verlag in Germany and thus part of the VIA publishing group, which is currently also establishing companies and working structures in India, and North and South America and Asia. The VIA group focuses on the topic of lighting design in architecture. Part of the business encompasses the organisation and realisation of major events such as workshops, conventions, conferences, seminars or gala events. VIA Sweden currently has two employees. with a view to increasing the number of employees in the coming months. The VIA group comprises a global network of designers, artists, universities, journalists, and business people. The team of VIA Sweden will be locals and gains also from the international structure. Anna Davidsson is working to build VIA Sweden and is currently looking for additional support.
Lights in Alingsås is expected to grow. That means the target is to expand the event - to offer more activities and attract an increasing number of visitors. At the same time the budget has been frozen or even reduced. The next steps to develop Lights in Alingsås will be made on the basis of what has been created and established by Alingsås Kommun and Alingsås Futurum so far. To combine the tasks performed by both entities in the past, it is necessary to develop professional structures in Alingsås. In the future the Lights in Alingsås project will involve the whole town much more, its business people, and every individual. The success of Lights in Alingsås 2.0 will be the success of every participating entity and structure. VIA Sweden will be coordinating all of these elements and ideas in the name of ABAR - AB Alingsås Rådhus but also defining structures to give everybody the chance to contribute on the one hand and to develop more business on the other. "Lights in Alingsås and other activities on and around Light and Lighting Design are planned to be a strong element of the local business world, the job market and the town's culture", says Joachim Ritter, Managing Director of VIA Sweden.
One of the future tasks of VIA Sweden is to activate Alströmerska Magasinet and to create exhibitions, seminars and other activities inside the building. During Lights in Alingsås there will be an exciting programme of seminars, presentations and exhibitions. These will be on the basis of lighting, or light and art installations. The building will be an integral part of Lights in Alingsås. All guided tours will start and end at the Alströmerska Magasinet. The basement will contain a café with a dynamic light installation, and will be open all year around. A specialised partner from Alingsås will be involved in the café to guarantee the success of that level. Again this means that jobs are secured within Alingsås.
More activities will take place on the second and fourth floor. The third floor will sill be part of the cultural department of Alingsås to keep the tradition. In conjunction with the new lighting installation of the Museum Gardens, which has been realised and funded by Alingsås Energi, Alströmerska Magasinet will be a fascinating place for activities throughout the year.
Visitors from Alingsås and the Västra Götaland region are expected to attend the above-described events, but guests from Europe and overseas are also expected and target groups.
About this year's route for Lights in Alingsås
This year the route for the Lights in Alingsås exhibition will be in the western part of the town centre, mainly in Sörhaga. But this year there will not only be the six installations, which are realised as part of the workshop by our partner, the Professional Lighting Dsigners' Association, PLDA, but also other additional elements. This concept is referred to as "six plus x". The museum gardens with the fascinating new installation will be a further attraction as well as the activities inside the building. An outdoor exhibition about Lights in Alingsås is planned for the space surrounding the museum building.
The route is planned to pass the station building and where there is planned to be an exhibition of the ten most modern street lighting concepts. This area would be a good location for this, but still needs to be clarified. Along the route there may also be one or two more installations, which are more like art pieces. The locations are still in negotiation and a bit of surprise still.
The Youth Centre of Alingsås will be one element of the PLDA projects. In addition many more activities will take place for the young generation. PhD student Ulrika Wänström-Lindh from Gothenburg will be staging a research project in the grounds of the Christinae town church. All these elements support the idea of the ALC - Alingsås Lighting Center, the international Arena for lighting design and technology. All in all Lights in Alingsås 2010 will be representing the start of the next 10 years and everybody is invited by VIA Sweden to participate and bring in more ideas in the interest of the city culture and development.
Alingsås, 09.06.2010
Contact:
Anna Davidsson
adavidsson [at] via-internet [dot] com
Tel. +46(0)737003190
