River of Light festival returns

Let there be light!

Popular festival returns to dazzle the city

By BETH LINDOP

The River of Light festival promises to provide the perfect antidote to those dark, autumn nights as it returns to illuminate Liverpool this week.

The festival proved a huge hit earlier this year when over 120,000 people visited the city’s iconic waterfront to take in the temporary addition of 11 dazzling art installations.

Significantly, the light trail was launched on March 23 – a year on from the beginning of the first national lockdown – as a beacon of hope and a powerful symbol of the brighter days ahead.

Seven months on, with the city tentatively establishing a new normal, the River of Light is back with 12 new installations to enthrall the people of Merseyside.

Running from this Friday (October 22) until November 7, this free, reimagined light trail will align itself with the theme of ‘Rhythm of the Light’.

The selected artworks will create a 2km trail that aims to illustrate Liverpool’s unique and illustrious musical heritage.

One piece that will be on display is ‘The Pool’, a giant field of light comprising of over 100 interactive LED platforms. In addition to the touch-responsive platforms – which, when walked on, create incredible colourful light effects – the artwork will be accompanied by a specially curated, atmospheric soundtrack.

“The sculpture that will be in Liverpool has had many lives, but it was born in 2008,” artist Jen Lewin told Mersey News Live.

“The work has travelled to hundreds of exhibitions around the world. It’s been quite a loved and prolific sculpture and it’s visited all these different kinds of communities,

from Beijing to Singapore, to Australia, to all over Europe and parts of the US.”

The sculpture, which will be showcased in Liverpool One’s Chavasse Park, was inspired by Australian tidal pools and was developed by Lewin using mesh-network technology and custom code.

Whilst ‘The Pool’ has travelled to over 60 exhibition venues in more than 20 countries, it’s the first time that the piece will be on display in Merseyside.

throughout the US and also one in Japan.” She continued: “We were able to come up with ways to create an outdoor exhibition that allowed people to be outside in a socially-distanced way, which was actually really special to me because I was able to create these opportunities for people that could be safe.” Certainly, the River of Light festival provides a fantastic opportunity for Merseyside residents to gather together to celebrate the vibrancy and vitality of the city’s streets. “That’s really the heart and soul of my work,” Lewin said. “This idea of bringing people together, creating this unified experience and creating a moment of joy and play. I think one of the things that we missed so much during this time was the delightfulness of being together and being able to have a playful experience together.” In addition to ‘The Pool’, the 17-night event will see a whole host of other installations including ‘Liverpool love of my life’ by Scouse native Chila Kumari Singh Burman and The Kazimier’s stained glass sensation ‘Fly By Night’. With so many brilliant works on display, its no surprise that anticipation is building amongst both artists and spectators for what is fast becoming one of the city’s cultural highlights. “Being part of a festival that is trying to create this connected experience is an honour,” said Lewin. “I think everyone should be really excited.” Being part of a festival that is trying to create this connected experience is an honour ‘ ’ Considering the proficiency of Lewin’s work, its little wonder that Culture Liverpool reached out to seek her involvement in the River of Light. “We were immediately aligned with the vision of the festival, and it seemed like a really good fit,” she enthused. “The team there has just been a pleasure to work with which also really matters.”

The festival comes after a difficult period for many artists; however,

New York-based Lewin has managed to navigate the past 18 months pretty auspiciously. She said: “The pandemic has absolutely impacted my work, but I think one of the lucky aspects of what

I do is that my temporary work is all outdoors, so I actually had several really successful large exhibitions

Follow the trail...

• Dance Together (Lucid

Creates) - Canning Dock

Quayside • Fly By Night (The Kazimier) - Pier Head • The Pool (Jen Lewin) -

Chavasse Park • Wave (Squidsoup) - Thomas Steers Way

• Liverpool Love of My

Life (Chila Kumari Singh

Burman) - Liverpool Town

Hall

• Limelight: Saturday Night

(Sans Facon) - Derby

Square • Iconic Site (Sans Facon) -

Albert Dock • Singularity (Squidsoup) -

Mann Island Basin • Spriteworks (Pastle Castles and The Kazimier) - Pier

Head • Trumpet Flowers (Amigo and Amigo) - Exchange

Flags Square • Light Piano 2.0 XL (Kleurbleur) - Mann Island • Sonic Runway (Rob Jensen & Warren Trezevant) - The

Strand

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