Lumiere shines a light on Durham City economy

I THINK it will be glorious. People will come to this fantastic place that is Durham and for this brief moment, after dark, it will be transformed into a magical outdoor gallery of delightful, funny and surprising, challenging things – most of which have come from artists responding to Durham.

“The cast list ranges from contemporary artists who are household names to local artists and children. It’s an opportunity, not only for artists to explore their work and show it, but for people to see the city itself in a different way.”

If that sales pitch doesn’t get your blood racing for Lumiere 2011, it’s likely nothing will.

The words are those of Helen Marriage, codirector of arts outfit Artichoke, organisers of the free autumn event.

Lumiere 2011 will be staged from Thursday to Sunday, November 17 to 20, and tens of thousands are expected to visit the city, with many never-seen-before artworks and events for the family.

Ms Marriage, the festival programmer, is clearly excited.

She talks of making people feel happier, creating “excitement”, and leaving a legacy in people’s memories.

The full programme was announced last month. A huge I Love Durham snowdome by Jacques Rival will engulf the Lord Londonderry statue in Durham Market Place, a huge ball of fire will burn inside Durham Cathedral under Compagnie Carabosse’s Spirit creation and a huge illuminated waterfall will descend from Kingsgate Bridge in Peter Lewis’ Splash.

Tracey Emin will contribute a neon piece, there will be sculptures by French artist Cedric Le Bourgne, a light installation by David Batchelor and a curtain-raising lantern parade featuring 200 children.

The Brilliant initiative will feature specially- created pieces by six North-East artists and there will be science-themed pieces linking Lumiere with recent light festivals in Torun, in Poland, and Tallinn, in Estonia.

All pieces will be new to Durham except Ross Ashton’s Crown of Light, premiered at Lumiere 2009, when huge images from the Lindisfarne Gospels rolled across Durham Cathedral, which is being brought back by popular demand.

Ms Marriage said: “The first conversation (about Lumiere) was held in April 2009. We staged it in November. In arts terms, that’s a terribly short time – you wouldn’t plan a wedding reception in that time.

“But I’ve found the people here really fantastic.

Turning round that festival was only possible because of the immense co-operation we enjoyed.”

For Ms Marriage, there is more than a professional interest. Her grandfather was a Methodist minister in Durham and her mother was born in the area.

In fact, her mother returned to the city for Lumiere 2009 and loved it.

Ms Marriage said: “It’s a most marvellous city – fantastic landscape and the relationship between the built environment and the river.”

Surveys found 92 per cent of visitors felt happier as a result of Lumiere, 17 per cent came from outside the North-East and 80,000 people passed through Durham Cathedral over the four nights.

This time, Lumiere will spread across the peninsula, Wharton Park and North Road, the Riverbanks and Crook Hall and Old Elvet; and spectators are promised three new pieces on a Crown of Light scale.

With only days to go, Ms Marriage says much work remains to be carried out.

But Artichoke’s record of delivering attention- grabbing art events speaks for itself.

Ms Marriage and co-director Nicky Webb set up the group in 2005, having already worked together for many years, including on art for Canary Wharf, in London, Salisbury Festival and London International Festival of Theatre.

Through Artichoke, the pair have brought us the Telectroscope, through which people in London and New York could observe each other’s lives, the huge La Machine spider that crawled through Liverpool in its year as European Capital of Culture, and Angel of the North creator Antony Gormley’s Trafalgar Square Empty Plinth project.

Ms Marriage said: “We are interested in working in such a way that people who thought they were not interested discover they are – and the key is not putting art in buildings which are out of their territory.

“We all think it’s perfectly normal to shut cities for all kinds of things – sports teams, military events... why not arts?”

Ms Webb said: “Canary Wharf made us think about the opportunity offered by putting art into public spaces and not having to charge for it – that’s where Artichoke came from.

“We were very pleased with Lumiere 2009.

We were expecting it would be popular, but nobody expected the numbers that came.

“It’s very clear that if you put the best artists together with a really beautiful location and look at it in a new way, people will come.

“It’s fantastic to be able to turn the whole city into a gallery, which is, I suppose, what we’re trying to do.”

Turning to this year, Ms Marriage says she is extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to return.

“I feel great about it,” Ms Webb adds.

“It’s a huge amount of work. Helen’s been working on the programme since the end of 2009. It’s a big undertaking, but we’re very excited.”

The event website is at lumieredurham.co.uk