Durham City Vision
Lighting the Way Between East and West
8th September, 2008
The cultural ‘event baton’ was passed from NewcastleGateshead to Durham today as bamboo destined to be part of a stunning international light festival was handed over.
Bamboo from the spectacular Bambuco Bridge which recently spanned the Tyne will be recycled and reused as part of an illuminated art installation over Elvet Bridge.
This is one of the four major Asian themed artworks which will make up Enlightenment: Durham International Light Festival.
The passing of the bamboo symbolises the bridges between east and west, Newcastle and Durham, and the rivers Tyne and Wear.
Four light-based artworks, inspired by Durham’s religious and industrial history, will be exhibited on the City’s bridges in the shadow of the Castle and Cathedral World Heritage Site, illustrating Durham as viewed by two very different cultures.
Enlightenment was initiated by Durham City Arts with support from Durham City Vision. Two installations by Indian based artists are being managed by ISIS Arts, while Grit and Pearl has responsibility for two further pieces originating in the UK.
It takes place as part of EAST’08, a world-class celebration of contemporary Asian culture in North East England, managed by culture10 at NewcastleGateshead Initiative, and takes place November 6-8 2008.
Stella Hall, Director of the culture10 programme based at NewcastleGateshead Initiative said: “We’re delighted to see the handover of bamboo from one of the region’s world-class cultural events to another.
“Enlightenment is another great example of the cultural programme engaging with innovative international artists to create exciting new work that is firmly rooted in the history and landscape of the North East and will provide another compelling reason to visit Durham this winter.”
Esther Salamon from Durham City Arts said: “As part of our aims to make the North East a colourful, vibrant and exciting place to visit, we are delighted to help bring such a wonderful event to this wonderful City. The artists have done a fantastic job of interpreting Durham’s history through the medium of light.”
Kate James, Events Coordinator for Durham City Vision, said: “We’re thrilled to be part of this world class cultural event. This original and international celebration of Durham’s extraordinary religious and industrial history is fantastic, and one that illustrates our ambition to host top quality events in the City.”
Clymene Christoforou from ISIS Arts said, “What I find most thrilling is that in a corner of India, the history of Durham is being analysed, interpreted and brought to life through art. We’re so looking forward to bringing the artists and their pieces to North East England.”
Created by two Indian and two UK-based artists, the installations are a fusion of cultural identities, creative styles and methods of working. The individual pieces take their inspiration from the sacred texts, iconic images and the traditions of Durham and several Eastern societies.
The Exhibits
Calcutta Lights by Nandita Palchoudhury will use bamboo from the Tyne structure, reincarnating the material into two lit arches across Elvet Bridge. The arches will be decorated with intricate interpretations of the Durham Sanctuary Knocker and Rose Window created by thousands of tiny bulbs. The public will be able to walk through the installation.
Enlightenment by Lulu Quinn is a 15m wide illuminated chandelier suspended from Kingsgate Bridge. Hanging from the structure will be text taken from the works of the venerable Bede and translated into Japanese, Modern English and Arabic. The multilingual extracts will be reflected by light onto the River Wear, enabling the text to be animated, distorted and mirrored.
Third Eye: The Inner Vision by Sanchayan Ghosh is based on the idea of Bede’s eyes and the third eye of enlightenment within Indian tradition. Two shining eyes will hang under Framwellgate Bridge and look up towards the spectacular Castle and Cathedral landscape. Durham’s mining tradition will be represented through the use of miners’ helmets to make up the glowing iris of each eye.
Illuminated Carpet by Julie Westerman is inspired by Persian gardens and the rug making traditions of Durham. Discussions are underway to determine whether the floating light carpet can be moored on the river around Durham Peninsula. The complex patterns will represent the meditative writing and paintings of sacred texts and the contemplative patterns of Persian carpets.
The major pieces are supported by Intermittent, a light trail of smaller light installations, projections, film works and light boxes exhibited in shop windows across the City.
