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10 years and 1 million visitors
Commissioned by Durham County Council.
Watch the highlights
Hundreds of thousands of people braved incessant rain to experience four spectacular evenings showcasing 37 light artworks by international and local artists across Durham City
First estimates put the number of visitors at 165,000, bringing the number of people who have enjoyed the festival since it began in 2009 to just over one million.
Filmed and edited by Media Workshop.
A whale splashing in the Wear; a playground of musical seesaws; a geometric pattern in the trees along the riverbank; a monumental snowdome in Market Square
At the 10th anniversary edition of the UK’s largest light festival visitors enjoyed 37 dramatic installations and projections showcasing the creativity of both international and local artists. Iconic landmarks were transformed, including Durham Cathedral, lit up from within by candlelit installation Spirit, whilst the public could manipulate the sound and light installation Stones on the historic building’s exterior.
As always, the programme had a strong international element, with artists from Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and France bringing their work to Durham. Visitor favourites included Geometrical Traces by Spanish artist Javier Riera, whose mesmerising artwork created 3-D patterns across the trees above Prebends Bridge, and Fujiko Nakaya’s Fogscape #03238, a ghostly shape-shifting vapour that wound its way around the trees and over the river underneath Durham Cathedral.
The long-awaited return of Jaques Rival’s giant snow globe in Durham’s Market Place with its joyful neon affirmation I Love Durham, drew smiles in the rain from visitors young and old alike. Another favourite return was the colossal Baleen whale, Mysticete, by French artists Top’la Design / Catherine Garret. Belfast-based artist Deepa Mann Kler brightened the South Bailey streets with Shoefiti, garlands of illuminated 3D-printed trainers inspired by the mysterious act of shoe-tossing. Amelia Kosminsky’s Celestial Brainstorm encouraged audiences to interact whilst contemplating the disruptive effects of irregular brain activity, whilst the ingenious Human Tiles installation invited audiences to transform the facade of the Gala Theatre as part of an interactive video-mapping work that recalls the ornate tiles of Portugal.
Cosmic Architecture, Nina Dunn & John Del' Nero, Lumiere Durham 2017. Photo by Matthew Andrews
More than 150 local people aged from 4 to 85 years participated in Keys of Light. Pianists performed live music from Shostakovich to ‘The Greatest Showman’ to generate an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colours and patterns across the exterior of Rushford Court with every chord. One performance in particular of ‘Divenire’ by Ludovico Einaudi by a Durham University student was even the soundtrack to a marriage proposal in the audience.
Hundreds more local people had taken part in the preparations for this tenth anniversary festival, helping to make installations such as Bottle Festoon, Friendship Tree and Are Atoms Alive?. Students from Durham Sixth Form Centre collaborated with Portuguese artists Ocubo and Storybox from New Zealand to make Are Atoms Alive?, a short film exploring science displayed across nine shipping containers. East Durham College students reimagined the student union building Dunelm House with a new video projection artwork Lift Off, developed from the Apollo 50 project in Peterlee earlier this year. Dan Shorten from Guildhall School of Music & Drama, who provided guidance for this project, also presented the immersive walkway Light Tunnel, located in Crown Court Gardens which proved to be another crowd-pleaser.
Once again, the BRILLIANT programme offered four talented local people the opportunity to create a completely new piece of light art and play a central part in the festival’s 10th anniversary. Lucy McDonnell’s End Over End, a super-sized neon slinky, brightened up the Milburngate site, whilst Penelope Payne’s projection, Blue Skies, tucked under Milburngate Bridge, also brought a touch of sunshine to the festival despite the weather. Keen-eyed visitors will have spotted Mike Donaghy’s playful alteration of two sets of traffic lights for his artwork A Different View. By contrast Washed Up, an assemblage work made from bright plastic objects found on the beaches of the North East, delivered a serious message, with artist Diane Watson encouraging people to look closer and consider the impact of their plastic use.
The Next Page, a striking neon words artwork displayed on the back of Clayport Library will become a permanent fixture in the city thanks to support from the Banks Community Fund. Created as part of a project with women at HMP Low Newton following a series of writing workshops with poet Hannah Jane Walker, it will join the existing permanent Lumiere installations, Heron, Lightbenches and Helvetictoc, also supported by the Banks Community Fund.
Artists
Mr Beam
Keys of Light | View Bio
Amelia Kosminsky
Celestial Brainstorm | View Bio
Chris Plant
Harmonic Portal | View Bio
Deepa Mann-Kler
Neon Dogs | View Bio
NOVAK
Fool's Paradise | View Bio
Squidsoup
Wave | View Bio
Penelope Payne
Blue Skies | View Bio
Lucy McDonnell
End Over End | View Bio
Top’là Design / Catherine Garret
Mysticète | View Bio
Ocubo and Storybox in collaboration with Durham Sixth Form Centre
Are Atoms Alive? | View Bio
Bernd Spiecker for LBO LichtBankObjekte
Lightbenches | View Bio
Jon Voss
Heron | View Bio
Stellar Projects
The Stars Come Out At Night | View Bio
Ocubo
Human Tiles | View Bio
Tobie Langel
Helvetictoc | View Bio
Mick Stephenson
Fusion | View Bio
Hannah Jane Walker with Neon Workshops in collaboration with residents at HMP Low Newton
The Next Page | View Bio
Dan Shorten/ Guildhall Live Events
Light Tunnel | View Bio
Mick Stephenson
Friendship Tree | View Bio
Lateral Office and CS Design, Produced by L4 Studio and Wireframe Studio
| View Bio
Diane Watson
Washed Up | View Bio
East Durham College Students, Guildhall Live Events/ Dan Shorten
Lift Off | View Bio
AIRVAG
Sanctuary | View Bio
Nina Dunn with John Del’ Nero
Cosmic Architecture | View Bio
Jony Easterby, Kathy Hinde, Mark Anderson, Pippa Taylor and Ulf Pedersen
For the Birds | View Bio
Jacques Rival
I Love Durham | View Bio
Mike Donaghy
A Different View | View Bio
Victoria MacLeod
Big Knitting | View Bio
Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett
CLOUD | View Bio
Ron Haselden
Echelle | View Bio
Tigrelab Art
Stones | View Bio
Compagnie Carabosse
Spirit | View Bio
Deepa Mann-Kler
Shoefiti | View Bio
Louise Mackenzie
The Stars Beneath Our Feet | View Bio
Javier Riera
Geometrical Traces | View Bio
Fujiko Nakaya, Simon Corder
Fogscape #03238 | View Bio
Major Partners
Event Partners
Major Supporters
Event Supporters
- Sir James Knott Trust
- The Ragdoll Foundation
- Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Prince Bishops Shopping Centre
- Bannatyne
- Remember Media
- St. Margaret's Centre
- Durham Distillery
- New College Durham
- Northern Powergrid
- Waterstons
- Walkergate
- Tesco
- Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Evan Cornish Foundation
- Creative NZ
- Japan Foundation
- MKM Building Supplies
- Urban Base
- Flat White Durham
- Bill's
- Marriott International
- Greedy Goose
- Woven Inc
- Enter
- Ramside Event Catering
Supporters
- Instituto Camoes
- Savoy Educational Trust
- University of Sunderland
- Inovyn
- Deloitte
- Raby Castle
- Handelsbanken
- Swinburne Maddison
- Hadrian Trust
- Ushaw Historic House & Gardens
- SPAIN arts & culture
- Hotel Indigo
- Guildhall School of Music & Drama
- Greggs
- The Auckland Project
- Bidfood
- Vortex Lighting
- Unusual Rigging
- Fever-Tree
- Lanchester Wines
- Hargreaves Land
- Calor
- Millennium Events