Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss artist lights up Kyiv over Christmas

lightfhow
Gerry Hofstetter has transformed both built and natural objects into works of art including the Matterhorn and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Keystone / Oleg Petrasyuk

Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter has brought his light projection art to Ukraine, transforming buildings in its capital into works of art for three days over Christmas.

Russian attacks on power stations have caused severe power outages and left the Ukrainian capital largely dark at night. From December 23-25, Hofstetter is bringing some light to the city for fifteen minutes each night with the help of diesel generators.

Hofstetter, who has made a name for himself with light projections on the Matterhorn, an Arctic iceberg and the Brandenburg Gate, is beaming the Ukrainian flag, doves of peace, Christmas motifs and other images onto the facades of museums, universities, residential buildings and churches throughout Kyiv.

The lightshow also remembers victims of the war, projecting photo portraits of victims with their names and age at death on buildings and monuments such as St. Andrew’s Church. The images are also being streamed live.

“With these illuminations, I want to bring hope and some Christmas to Ukrainians,” Hofstetter was quoted as saying in a statement ahead of the lightshow according to news agency Keystone-SDA. The project was not announced ahead of time for security reasons but the Swiss Embassy in Kyiv provided logistics support.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Robin named bird of the year 2025

More

Robin named Swiss Bird of the Year 2025

This content was published on The Swiss public has named the robin as Bird of the Year 2025. With its familiar red breast and distinctive song, the robin is one of the most common bird species in Switzerland, found in gardens and forests.

Read more: Robin named Swiss Bird of the Year 2025
Large-scale police operation in Geneva - neighborhood cordoned off

More

Geneva police investigate suspected parcel bomb

This content was published on Geneva police carried out a major operation in the east of the city on Monday, following reports that a parcel bomb had exploded in an apartment building and injured one person.

Read more: Geneva police investigate suspected parcel bomb

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR