LIGHTING UP the city

It’s cold January night and I’m standing

in Oxford Circus, one of London’s main
shopping areas, but I’m not doing any
window-shopping. Instead I’m gazing at
a 3-D image sculpture called 1,8 which is
hanging here between the buildings. This
is amazing sculpture was inspired by
fishing nets that the artist saw when
travelling. And it’s not just for admiring.
I’m now downloading an app onto my
smartphone which means I’ll be able to
actually interact with the sculpture. This
is fun … there’s a huge captive audience
here and with just a phone they are
moving the light and
patterns around on the
sculpture it self.

This is part of Lumiere

London and it’s one of the
many exhibits that are
lighting up central London
for three days. I’ve been
all over the city center
looking at some fabulous
sights. I’ve seen fish in a
telephone box, a neon
dress which stands up by
itself and lots of people
enjoying themselves. Earlier on I was at the Kings Cross light graffiti installation where I bumped into a
group of young French people. I asked 16-year- old Gaston for his impressions. ‘We’re students on a
school exchange visiting London for the first time and we’ve discovered that it is full of light this week.
I’m really impressed by everything. Light graffiti is incredible. You can use your smartphone torch to
paint graffiti on any surface because the installation turns it into light and it looks like you’re painting.
Your phone becomes a sort of spray can… amazing! We’re enjoying ourselves a lot.’
So just what is Lumiere London? It’s a free arts festival designed to temporarily transform the city.
Organized by Artichoke, a company whose mission it is to use public spaces to show ambitious and
different art forms, the festival has the backing of the London city council and aims to bring art to all
kinds of people and age groups. It creates and opportunity to expose people to more art and anyone can
get involved. The fact that so many of the exhibits are interactive means that the audience really get to
have a hands- on experience.

Judging by the crowds of

teenager and young children
with their parents, the festival is
fulfilling its aim. In Trafalgar
Square I discovered Plastic
Islands, glowing plastic shapes
made from thousands of bottles
floating in the fountains which
represent all the rubbish dumped
in the North Pacific Ocean. No-
one looking at this could ignore
the fact that we need to be more
aware of the litter dumped in
our seas and take more care of
our environment.

While thinking about what to see next I talked to Darina, who was visiting from Odessa, Ukraine.
‘What’s fantastic is that it’s all here for everyone. I don’t have a lot of money to spend but all this is free
and you make friends in the crowd. I love London! But ZI’ve also visited Berlin to see the Festival of
Lights there. They even have artists who walk around in costumes made of light. Incredible!’

This got me back on my smartphone to have a look for other light festivals from around the world Vivid
Sydney sounded worth a visit to see iconic buildings like the Opera House lit up with amazing designs.
Or Kobe Lumiere in Japan, which stands as a symbol of hope after the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake,
and Amsterdam Light Festival, where you can take a trip along the canals to see all the illuminated
artworks. What a night! I’ve had a great time and met people from all over the world who have come to
London and found something different, educational and free for everyone to enjoy.