A space in the sky
From 19 June 2026, the permanent installation ‘As Seen Below – The Dome’ will be open to the public at the ARoS Art Museum in Aarhus. James Turrell's Skyspace plays a central role in the museum's current expansion process and also marks its completion. Turrell, one of the most important contemporary artists, has been exploring the limits of perception and the materiality of light for more than five decades. His Skyspaces create places of quiet contemplation and allow visitors to directly experience the changing colours and properties of natural light. With a height of 16 metres and a diameter of 40 metres, ‘As Seen Below’ will be the most ambitious Skyspace he has realised in a museum context to date.
Entering the work is via an underground, light-filled corridor that leads into a spacious domed room. Turrell's characteristic light art illuminates the architecture, while the circular opening in the centre of the ceiling frames the sky. Visitors can take their seats in two rows on a concrete bench that runs around the room, whose backrest extends upwards along the wall. The aim is to create a collective experience that emphasises the poetry of the seasons and humanity's natural connection to nature. ‘The Dome has been in the making for many years, and I am delighted that it will open to the public just in time for the summer solstice in 2026,’ says Turrell. The aim is to shape the act of seeing itself. ‘The architecture holds the sky close, so you recognise that the act of looking is the work itself. Here light isn’t description; it’s the substance you stand within.’
The opening of ‘As Seen Below – The Dome’ also completes the ARoS expansion project The Next Level, which was developed in collaboration with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. This includes the Salling Gallery, an underground space for annual commissioned works of contemporary art, which opened in June 2025, and the new Art Square, a permanent outdoor area for art exhibitions, which will follow this year. ‘We are proud that our museum will be home to the artist’s most significant Skyspace to date – an extraordinary work that invites visitors to slow down, look up, and experience light, time, and space in profoundly moving ways,’ says Rebecca Matthews, director of ARoS. ‘This is not only a monumental addition to ARoS but also a gift to the public – a place for contemplation, connection, and wonder.’
ARoS Art Museum
Aros Allé 2
8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Phone: +45 61 90 49 00
Opening hours:
Closed on Mondays
Tuesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday to Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
