Fjord Oslo 2026 brought outdoor light installations to Oslo from November 5 to 8, using art to explore peace, freedom and coexistence. The free festival took place around the city’s harbor area, illuminating buildings, public spaces and the Nobel Peace Center.
This year’s theme, “IMAGINE PEACE,” framed the works around questions that extend beyond the absence of war. The festival was part of a European Union co-funded collaboration among five European light festivals, according to the IMAGINE PEACE project.
Organizer and light artist Anastasia Isachsen said the festival’s setting in the city associated with the Nobel Peace Prize gave its subject particular meaning. She described peace as both an international concern and a personal idea shaped by individual experience.
Artists and visitors offered personal definitions
Croatian artist Marko Bolkovic said his team asked people in six countries involved in the festival to describe peace in one word. Responses included “father,” “mother,” friendship and friends, he said, showing how people may connect peace with relationships and everyday life as well as conflict.
Visitors also reflected on what art can contribute. Norwegian visitor Ulrich Lauridsen said art might not stop a war directly, but could encourage more people to want wars to end. Kenyan visitor Faith Imani described peace as the freedom to move, exist and live alongside others.
The Fjord Oslo festival listed November 8 as its final day, with installations scheduled to be open from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. The event was identified as the festival’s fifth edition in reporting by Euronews.
Clayton Ward 
Nicole French