Astronomy art at Liljevalchs

Göran Östlin, Professor at the Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University, is collaborating with artist Cecilia Ömalm in the exhibition “The Stockholm Cosmology” at the Liljevalchs Art Exhibition Centre this summer.

“The Stockholm Cosmology” will be held at the Liljevalchs Art Exhibition Centre in Stockholm from the 14th of June to the 18th of August. Göran Östlin, Professor at the Department of Astronomy, and artist Cecilia Ömalm have collaborated to combine art and science as part of the exhibition. They have worked together using the cyanotype photographic method, a camera-less photography technique invented by astronomer John Herschel in 1842. The final products aim to visualize the Universe as Herschel might have seen it.

Artwork from the exhibition “The Stockholm Cosmology” at Liljevalchs Art Exhibition Centre. Credit: Cecilia Ömalm/Göran Östlin.

Göran Östlin and Cecilia Ömalm will be at the Liljevalchs Art Exhibition Centre on the 14th of June from 12:00 to 16:00 to present their work. Göran will also be available on the 15th and 16th of June from 12:00 to 15:00 to answer questions about the artworks and the science behind them.

The cyanotype photographic method is a way to create photographs without a camera. The process involves creating a light-sensitive emulsion by mixing two iron salts and applying it to cotton paper. By exposing the emulsion to ultraviolet and blue light, a blue-colored negative image is printed onto the paper. This method was developed by Sir John Herschel in 1842.

You can find more information about the exhibition here:

https://liljevalchs.se/en/kalender/stockholms-kosmologi/