Durham City Vision
The Path to Enlightenment
27th October, 2008
Businesses in Durham are backing the City’s international light festival by transforming their windows into temporary art spaces.
The Intermittent Light trail will help guide visitors around the four spectacular light based art works which make up Enlightenment: Durham International Light Festival and takes place in the City, 06-08 November.
Answering the open call from event organisers, Durham’s business community has provided ten window spaces to house light based art works from a host of regional, national and international emerging talent.
The chance to take part in the event attracted entries from artists as far afield as India and Israel enabling the curation of a culturally varied body of work, fitting with Enlightenment’s wider international themes. The light trail provides a unique opportunity for visitors to explore the architecture and commercial heart of Durham City in a fresh new way.
Enlightenment has been initiated by Durham City Arts with support from Durham City Vision. The event takes place as part of EAST’08, a world-class celebration of contemporary Asian culture in North East England, developed by culture10.
Suzy O’Hara Sheader, Events Support Officer from Durham City Vision said: “We’ve had such high quality entries for Intermittent that it has been really difficult choosing just ten to take part.
“The smaller individual pieces are in many ways just as impressive as the four main installations and the level of interest generated is testament to the City’s ability to attract world class cultural events.”
Esther Salamon from Durham City Arts said: “I’m thrilled to see just how much the city has got behind this event. Durham’s business community has been influential in bringing Intermittent to the public and the Light Trail will sit spectacularly alongside the four main installations.”
Millennium Place, the City’s most contemporary architectural space, will host new media work by three artists.
Durham City’s Tourist Information Centre, will host artist Michael Day and his work Superstructures which responds to differing levels of ambient light, illuminating glimpses of a metal superstructure which takes its inspiration from modernist architecture.
The City’s key cultural venue, the Gala Cinema & Theatre will host The New Zero by Yaron Lapid. The New Zero explores how photography can be used to construct and deconstruct perceptions of history. The art work takes its inspiration from a collection of negatives found in a demolished area of Jerusalem by Lapid, dating back to the 1970’s.
Co-organisers of Enlightenment, Durham City Vision, will host Skylauncher by Newcastle based artist, Jorn Ebner. Skylauncher is a series of software generated images of the sky. The viewer is afforded a unique perspective of the atmosphere brought down to a pedestrian level.
Elsewhere in the City, the recently refurbished Town Hall in the Market Place will host a photography exhibition, Before Dawn by Espen Krukhaug explores the varying colours and shades of darkness played out during the night incorporating experiences of insomnia and solitude.
Independent retailers are also involved. Skin Philosophy, Skincare Boutique and Beauty Spa, on Elvet Bridge will host Secret Spaces by Becca Pelly-Fry. Secret Spaces peeks inside a hidden world of light and paper, where fairytales and legends unfold in front of watching eyes. Like the invented worlds and hiding places created in the minds of children, Secret Spaces are places to escape and let the imagination run wild.
Gemcraft, specialists in rare semi-precious stone jewellery, fossils and minerals in Saddler Street will host Light and Shade by Roshni R. Belakavadi. Light and Shade is one in a series of visual poems. These non-narrative visuals showcase light as the main character with support from carefully chosen words.
Also in Saddler Street, The Mugwump which has been an independent retailer in the City for the last 40 years will host Reducere by Colin Rennie, an artist and lecturer at Sunderland University
The work references Victorian bell jars, specimen collections, and microscopy. The contents are models, white and devoid of life. The frosted surface serves to visually increase the size of the contents and the lens, to reduce.
Rumbletums Old English Tea Rooms, housed in a fifteenth century building on Silver Street, will showcase The Light by Nurcan Ozagi. This artwork explores the relationship between light, darkness, black and white, while popular religious beliefs are looked at through the visor of life, death, birth and wisdom.
National retailers were also keen to get involved in the festival.
The Post Office situated on Silver Street will host Post Office by Paul Vivian. The work relates to destinations and departures. A series of silhouette projections are contained within boxes that have been sent through the mail and assembled by the artist.
One of Durham’s largest stores, Woolworths in the Market Place, will host Walks in Silence by Darshana Vora. The piece is a visual diary which borrows light from street lamps and reflections, the effects are outstanding, and allow for the local environment, passers by and the nocturnal cityscape to affect the video in an ever-changing way.
The main Enlightenment pieces will be installed on and under the City’s bridges. Calcutta Lights by Nandita Palchoudhuri will consist of bamboo arches over Elvet Bridge.
Chandelier by Lulu Quinn will feature quotes from the work of the Venerable Bede translated into Japanese, Arabic and Modern English. It will hang under Kingsgate Bridge.
Illuminated Carpet by Julie Westerman takes it’s inspiration from the Barnard Castle carpet industry pattern books, the piece will float on the surface of the River Wear and can be viewed from Prebends Bridge.
Light of Darkness is the final installation by Sanchayan Ghosh and consists of two glowing eyes made from more than 300 miners helmets and will hang under Framwelgate Bridge.
The main international commissions have been developed and produced by ISIS Arts, while Grit and Pearl are managing the UK commissions.
Durham City Centre is a ten minute walk from the train station and five minutes from the main bus station. Meteor car park in the heart of Durham City offers 500 secure spaces and is conveniently situated at the beginning of the light trail under Millennium Place.
The lights will be switched on from 4pm to 10pm. Glow sticks and further information can be collected from the town hall reception in the Market Place until 9pm.
For more detailed information about Enlightenment and the Intermittent Light Trail, please visit www.durhamenlightenment.co.uk
