World-renowned artists have been announced for the Lumiere festival set to light up Durham once more this autumn.
The biennial festival returns for the four nights this November with a host of stunning light art displays from leading artists on display in the city.
Organisers have today (July 20) revealed the first five artists to exhibit their work this year.
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More than one million people have attended the festival since it first landed in Durham 14 years go, with 270 bold installations showcased so far.
The event is totally free for spectators and is organised by art producers Artichoke alongside Durham County Council, the Arts Council England and Durham University.
The city will be transformed into a nocturnal art experience with spectacular light installations by artists including Ai Weiwei, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Chila Burman, Yinka Ilori and Daniel Canogar.
The full schedule is set to be announced later this year with peak-time tickets released on October 4.
Helen Marriage, organiser Artichoke’s Artistic Director said: “We are always determined to reimagine and reinvent something familiar into something new. We’ve worked with the people of Durham for fifteen years and constantly marvel at the city’s willingness to facilitate the wildest imaginings of our cohort of artists.
“This year, the programme is even more ambitious with the work of some of the world’s greatest contemporary artists finding its place amongst the beautiful architecture of Lumiere’s home city.
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“As always, artists sit at the heart of our work. Their ability to transform the everyday, to make us look with wonder at the truth that lies just below the surface of our complicated lives, their messages of hope for a different future and reflections on past lives – this is the important core of this year’s Lumiere programme and the centre of Artichoke’s work.”
Who are the artists involved?
Ai Weiwei is an acclaimed Chinese artist whose display ‘Illuminated Bottle Rack’ of 61 antique chandeliers will be installed in the Cathedral’s Chapter House. It will be the first time this intricate piece will have been shown in the UK.
Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s work ‘Pulse Topology’ comes to Durham from New York and San Francisco. Made up of thousands of light bulbs which are activated by the recorded heartbeat of visitors the art will sit in the centre of Durham Cathedral.
Described as one of the UK’s leading visual artists Chila Burman MBE’s newly commissioned piece ‘Love Light Life’ will illuminate Durham Market Place with a theme of climate change.
Spaniard Daniel Canogar’s ‘Universal Loom’ will be projected on the University’s Ogden Centre, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. The animation is inspired by science and will be created with astronomical data provided by scientists who work in the building it is shown on.
Yinka Ilori MBE is known for his use of bright colours and his work ‘In Plants We Trust’ is described as a “shrine” to plants that thrive in urban settings.
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