Mirakel (Miracle)

If you travel by train through Örebro, you might be startled to see the word ‘mirakel’ (miracle) looming in huge letters in the sky to the west, just about midway between Central Station and Södra Station. What you are seeing is Santiago Mostyn’s artwork in the Vasatorget square. On dark evenings and nights, the letters light up in white neon.

What does the word miracle mean to us today? That the impossible has happened? A divine intervention? Historically, one of art’s main tasks was to convey religious messages. Miraculous events were divine manifestations and questioning God’s power was considered heresy throughout much of European history.

Today, both art’s connection to the miraculous and the role of the miracle in our understanding of existence are instead open to debate. The thought of a miracle can offer hope in situations that feel hopeless, and Mostyn’s work may perhaps raise questions about what we put our hope in. How does change come about?

The work was completed in 2016 and first installed, with the help of the Public Art Agency Sweden, on Möllevängen in Malmö. In 2017, the work visited Ljusdal in Hälsingland, and in 2019, it was exhibited at OpenArt and was then purchased by the Municipality of Örebro. During the biennial, Mirakel was placed in the middle of the Svartån river.

Santiago Mostyn was born in San Francisco but now lives and works in Stockholm. He studied at Yale University, Städelschule in Frankfurt and at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm.