Light Night Wigan 2022
In total we presented 17 works of art, 6 of them brand new and 4 of them produced by us for Wigan Light Night, 780 members of the community were actively engaged in helping create the artworks and over 7,850 people attended over 2 nights - completely for free!
In 2022, we were determined to better highlight the wonderful heritage buildings the canal side site had to offer - inviting the audience in to Trencherfield Mill for Our Spectral Vision, by Liz West and the incredible Pier 4 for Our Colour Reflection by Liz West and a new exhibition about Wigan’s waterways, botany and the artist’s grandma from Kathy Hinde, Searching for Melilot.
Our light trail also featured artists: Jack Wimperis, who showcased Scintillated Birch Forest - made for Sky Arts in 2021; Chris Plant aka Colour Burst made us a brand new work inspired by the water Adrift On An Endless Ocean; Venessa Scott experimented with her bold colourful style on creating two enormous light boxes in the windows of the Business Centre; Lou Chappelle presented her new work, Voicing Silence, a moving holographic style piece exploring the subject of mass extinction; Zarah Hussain whose incredible geometric images lit up the Pier 3 building in a majestic way - and worked to highlight her solo exhibtion at the Turnpike Gallery in neighbouring Leigh; the wonderful Mr Wilson’s who brought their travelling sound and light piece Opal’s Comet to Wigan’s waterways and entertained the audience with their singing and beautiful music; and infamous story-teller Ian Douglas delighted the crowd with his shadow puppet storytelling from the Night Lantern.
We also worked with North-East based artist, Mick Stephenson and his incredible team to make a full size canal boat, Greenheart - filled with illuminated drawings designed and created by 750 members of the local community inspired by Wigan’s very own Greenheart.
Amsterdam based artist Tom Biddulph also created a brand new piece of work, One Way Or Another - a series of road signs with a message for the future. We co-commisioned and produced the work with our colleagues at Lightpool and Light Up Lancaster and the work is now touring the country at other light festivals - spreading a message of hope for the future.
