With the days getting shorter and winter well on its way, the streets of Hackney may seem darker than ever.
That is unless you happen to be standing outside St John-at-Hackney, which was cast in a dazzling array of kaleidoscopic, moving imagery on Tuesday evening to kickstart an arts festival.
A small group attended the first of a series of light-based art installations, which are set to splash colour around the local area until 8 December as part of the Hackney Revealed Illuminated Arts Festival.
12 artists and more than 250 local residents took part in a series of workshops in October to create the displays, which as well as projections incorporate dance, photography, sound, and origami.
Curator Valentina Floris told the Hackney Post: “We want to spontaneously light up sites, not create massive, ticketed events… it’s more of an ambient installation.”
Floris said the workshops attempted to engage people who would not usually have access to the arts, such as patients and staff at St Joseph’s Hospice and children with autism at The Garden School.
The organisers also collaborated with Chats Palace Arts Centre, Sutton House and LGBTQ+ youth group Project Indigo for the festival.
Bystanders’ reactions ranged from delighted to perplexed: “If I’m being honest, I don’t really know what’s going on,” said Rejai, 20, who admitted that while the display was intriguing, it was unclear what was being conveyed.
The free show was a hit with Helen and David, 42, who said: “It brightens up the space on a dark and dreary day… it’s great to have things like this which are open and accessible to the public.”
The next installation on 24 November will project colourful and vibrant dance performances from carnival groups, circus performers and Chinese lion dancers through the windows of Hackney Town Hall.
Highlights of the festival include:
Paper Gardens, a meadow of origami flowers at the London College of Fashion on Mare Street, runs from 18 November until 8 December.
Civic Stage, a projection of colourful and vibrant dance performances from carnival groups, circus performers and Chinese lion dancers runs on 24 and 25 November.
Shoreditch Town Hall is also displaying its own projections in collaboration with young people from Haggerston School, entitled More Light More Power and running on 17 November at Shoreditch Church and 18 November at Shoreditch Town Hall.
