Winter Lights 2016: preview of free festival coming to Canary Wharf

Installations include an 18-foot-tall alien, a flutter of butterflies and a digital waterfall
1/8
David Ellis @dvh_ellis7 January 2016

A festival is set to brighten up Canary Wharf from January 11 until the 22.

Highlights on show at Winter Lights 2016 include an 18-foot-tall alien, butterflies made from light and a digitally powered waterfall. The gallery above shows some of the artwork that will soon be on display.

Artists from across the globe have contributed a total of 18 sculptures, structures and experiences, many of which are interactive.

One, Jen Lewin’s The Pool, pictured in the gallery above, is made up of 106 touch-sensitive pods which illuminate when walked on, meaning the display is different for each visitor.

Elsewhere, much of the festival addresses how people communicate in the modern world. Julius Popp’s bit.fall, also pictured above, channels live news streams and displays the most common words in a waterfall.

One sculpture, my light is your light by Palestinian artist alaa minawi, explores the plight of Syrian refugees. minawi said: “my light is your light… is a tribute to the Syrian refugees who have been going through extremely painful humanitarian conditions.

It is also a tribute to every refugee in general. It is an installation that reflects both harshness and aspects of hope.”

Festival curator Keith Watson said: “This rich, diverse exhibition of light demonstrates some of the most creative light installations and technology from around the world. Many of the works are interactive, creating enchanting experiences that will appeal to art lovers, families, or simply people looking for something interesting and free to do after work.”

The festival is free. For more information, visit canarywharf.com

Follow David Ellis on Twitter @dvh_ellis

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT