Art installation by Bruce Munro to launch in Hanazono
Art installation by internationally renowned artist Bruce Munro to launch July 2022 in Niseko, Hokkaido
“Mountain Lights”
The 2022 summer will see the opening of an extraordinary light art installation within the vast nature of Niseko Hanazono Resort located in Hokkaido, Japan. Mountain Lights is proudly presented by Nihon Harmony Resorts KK in collaboration with Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono. The art installation will be open during the summer and autumn months of 2022, 2023 and 2024.
While the Hanazono area is renowned for world class skiing and the quality of its powder snow, the lesser-known summer and autumn months present their own unique natural beauty and immersive opportunities. With a variety of cutting-edge experiences in development, Hanazono is set to attract more and more attention as one of the world’s most compelling all-season destinations.
“Mountain Lights” is the creation of the internationally acclaimed artist Bruce Munro. The nights in Niseko will be illuminated with his light-based artwork in complete harmony with Hanazono’s natural surroundings, producing a dreamlike walkway through wonderland. This is Bruce Munro’s first art installation in Japan, and there is great anticipation his creation will bring newfound attention and allure to Niseko’s stunning green season months.
Fireflies
Mountain Lights is an immersive artwork that covers the summer-dormant ski slopes of Hanazono. Thousands of gently glowing firefly sculptures, (each made with 24 strand optical fibre) will blend in and illuminate the landscape with a total of 180,000 individual points of light.
These 180,000 points of light transform into a 1.3 km-long ribbon of light, illuminating the foot of Mount Niseko Annupuri organically, peacefully and magically.
Draped in gentle gleam just like real fireflies, Hanazono's fireflies will embrace the surroundings, gently captured by the summer breezes of Niseko.
The art to feel, from above and below
The “Mountain Lights” experience commences with a ride up Hanazono’s brand-new 10-person gondola, the scent of new leather still noticeable in the cabins.
Visitors will have spectacular views of the entire artwork while traveling to the very top of the installation, and panoramic views of the surrounding Niseko landscape and the mountain range stretching to Yoichi and Sapporo, so visible on bright moonlit nights.
Stepping out of the gondola cabins, visitors will walk slowly through the lights, communing intimately with them, with the atmosphere and with nature.
Concept
Bruce Munro's artwork is inspired by the "shared human experience” that has been a large interest of his for decades.
Our interactions with “fire” have brought light, warmth, and other benefits to humans since ancient times, and we have shared its mysterious brightness with others. The Ainu people, the indigenous people of Hokkaido, regard fire as a maternal goddess and mediator, while in distant Australia, Aboriginal people also express their compassion for others through fire.
The light produced by electricity is considered a modern formation of "fire," and Mountain Lights embodies the “shared human experience” through fire. The warmth and compassion shared through fire are incorporated into Mountain Lights.
Bruce Munro
British artist Bruce Munro’s monumental light installations have traveled across the world. In 2019, his “Field of Light at Sensorio” in Paso Robles, California, attracted the attention of the world. The New York Times described his artwork as “There is nothing quite like the mind-bending spectacle now on display at dusk in the hills of Paso Robles here, a popular wine destination. That is the witching hour when thousands of solar-powered glass orbs on stems, created by the artist Bruce Munro, enfold visitors in an earthbound aurora borealis of shifting hues.
Since it opened in May, “Field of Light at Sensorio” has drawn thousands of tourists and become an Instagram phenomenon. The subtly changing patterns of this light safari, activated by a nebula of fiber-optic cables attached to hidden projectors, seem to inspire a cathedral-like awe among ticket holders”.
With the gentle twinkling of light in harmony with nature, visitors will begin to feel the physical warmth exuding from Mountain Lights, and will be reminded of the kindness and unity that we all have inside us. Under the fragrance of rich forests and the stars in a distant sky, Mountain Lights will take you to an ethereal world of light and wonder.
Niseko Hanazono Resort
Located on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, Niseko is coveted as one of the largest combined resort areas in Japan, producing some of the lightest and driest snow on the planet. The Niseko Hanazono Resort is one of the 4 resort areas of Niseko, offering spectacular skiing for all abilities, luxurious ski-in/ski-out accommodation, extraordinary culinary experiences and a full complement of guest services and activities.
In December 2021 Hanazono opened a brand new 6-seat detachable hooded chairlift with heated seats, and a 10-seat gondola with cabins designed by Italy’s Pininfarina, to provide luxurious additional uphill capacity, as well as night-skiing.
In green season, blessed with a cooler climate, the resort offers of water activities such as white-water rafting, stand-up paddle boarding and kayaking, as well as tree trekking, cycling and golf. During the summer of 2022, Hanazono Zip World will commence operations with the unveiling of “Black Diamond SuperFly”, one of the world’s longest zipline networks and Asia’s longest zipline.
Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono
Set in a spectacular natural landscape with stunning views across the Annupuri ranges and Mount Yotei, Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono embodies personal luxury for global connoisseurs. A true year-round mountain resort with spaces and guestrooms designed for enriching experiences in an environment of carefully curated art, cuisine and contemporary design.
Park Hyatt hotels provide discerning, global travelers with a refined home-away-from-home. Guests of Park Hyatt hotels receive quietly confident and personalized service in an enriching environment. Located in several of the world's premier destinations, each Park Hyatt hotel is custom designed to combine sophistication with understated luxury. Park Hyatt hotels feature well-appointed guestrooms, world-renowned artwork and design, rare and immersive culinary experiences, and signature restaurants featuring award-winning chefs. There are currently 45 Park Hyatt hotels globally.
Event information
Art installation opening period 2022: July 1st - October 10th, 2022
Time: From sunset to 22:00
(until 23:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the day prior to a public holiday and on August 6th – 14th)
Location: Niseko Hanazono Resort
Pricing：Adult 4,000 yen / Child 3,200 (under 13) / Pre-school FREE
(*Prices include the gondola ride)
