From the 6th -7th October, locations around Leeds will be transformed by an array of art instalments and performances for the city’s annual Light Night, with the University of Leeds hosting 13 of the 53 free events.
The 12th year of Light Night Leeds, organised by Leeds City Council and supported by Arts Council England, will see the festival expanded to two nights for the first time.
Between 6pm and 11pm on Friday, our very own Parkinson Court will showcase the festival’s elemental theme using medieval maps to give visitors a glimpse of a world as conceived through the four elements of earth, water, fire and air.
The Brotherton Gallery’s special exhibition ‘For All Time: Shakespeare in Yorkshire’ will also feature following its opening last month with a display of rare folios. Live performances throughout the evening will seek to present the bard’s own works and later adaptations in a new light, using the unique backdrop of the Treasures of the Brotherton gallery.
Other University venues being utilised include Stage@Leeds, where the Devika Dance Theatre will fuse traditional and modern Indian dance, the
Clothworkers Concert Hall Foyer, and the Parkinson building itself.
Also on Friday, Queen’s Square will be illuminated by Fire Balls – flaming orange sculptures of plasma cut welded steel by artist Aragorn Dick-Read from the British Virgin Islands. They will be counterbalanced by an installation entitled Ethereal Freeze; a series of ice sculptures along Briggate.
On Thursday, a smaller, family-friendly programme will play on Yorkshire’s Olympic success with a Light Triathlon and Lantern Parade.
For those with neon trainers and/or bikes at the ready, places on the Art Runs and Night Ride can be booked online.
For the less exercise-prone, and in keeping with the budget-friendly nature of the event, the Light Night Rider will be a free hop-on, hop-off bus service allowing convenient travel between the Parkinson buildings and other main stop off points such as the Station Zone, where the facade of the Queens Hotel will morph into a 100ft digital waterfall.
Sarah Berry
(Image: whatson.leeds.gov.uk)