Durham Lumiere

I headed to Durham's Lumiere festival -- modern art is extremely confusing to me, but is also an experience I love. I feel it's important to go to these kinds of events, especially when studying an art and design degree, as it's usually in keeping with the times and trends. I'd never been to this before and it was wonderful to see Durham lit up and decorated in pieces of artwork, like above, a sign that was above the streets saying "A Place Beyond Belief" by artist Nathan Coley, which recalls a testimony of a woman from 9/11.

The two pieces above caught my eye. As it was during the run up to Christmas, a tree was placed in the middle of the town, created solely out of plastic bags to show consumerism and our addiction to plastic bags, making us consider the environmental consequences of these which are so often discarded, at the time of year where we purchase more than any other. This was complimented by plastic bags acting as christmas lights hanging above the streets, and though quite a daunting and downhearted message, it was truly quite beautiful. On the right is something much more up beat and lively, a piece called "KeyFrames" which was men illuminated and dancing on top of the former Durham Miners Hall. It was very quirky and fun and had most people laughing and dancing along.

As usual, the Cathedral was lit up and played a story of it's history, called "Crown of Light." Featuring images from the Lindisfarne Gospels, it was incredibly beautiful as it spanned the images across the whole front, with movement and music helping to bring it to life. I was in awe.

The very first piece I saw was these tents. It truly set me up for the rest of the night: extremely quirky and cute, El Sol was a tribute to Durham's brass band heritage, and was interactive and ethereal. Each tent had an image of a musician and played music as you walked passed. Apparently when looking above you could see the significance of the way the tents are laid out.

It's really quite wonderful to see these kinds of events happen so close to home, and I felt I learnt a lot about Durham in an unusual way, whilst also having a lot of fun. Museums are great but are found everywhere nowadays, so this is a great way to get everyone learning and interested in heritage: especially as Durham is such an old city, with a lot of architecture remaining from hundreds of years.