Festival of light to become a regular event for Durham as Lumiere is hailed as spectacular success

Producers of extraordinary live events Artichoke announced today, Wednesday 18th November, that Lumiere would become a biennial event in Durham, after at the spectacular success of the festival which took place over four consecutive nights, 12th – 15th November.

At least 75,000 people thronged the city’s streets during the festival, filling the city’s restaurants and cafes, trains and buses, and every available parking space. Staged as part of Durham’s bid for UK capital of culture in 2013, Lumiere is the largest festival of its kind to take place in the UK, and included no less than seven new commissions and more than 50 UK and international artists. Lumiere is part of the 2009 Sky Arts Artichoke Season.

Festival highlights included the brand new commission Crown of Light, a collaboration between projection artist, Ross Ashton, composer and arranger Robert Ziegler, and sound designer John Del’Nero, whose remarkable son et lumiere projected onto the Cathedral exterior enthralled crowds. Inside the Cathedral, United Visual Artists had recreated Chorus, 8 swinging pendulums of light suspended in the Cathedral nave: thousands filed underneath this and then into the Cathedral cloisters to experience Daan Roosegaarde’s Dune, an installation of illuminated flowers turning this way and that in response to movement and sound. Durham’s dramatic architecture and landscapes were transformed by artworks and installations by Ron Haselden, FIELD, Speirs and Major Associates, Simon Corder, Creatmosphere, Mia Kosminksy, Bureau of Silly Ideas, Filament, Air Vag, Tae Gon Kim, and Tim Etchells, while French theatrical companies, Quidams and La Salamandre led magical processions through the nooks and crannies of the city’s medieval streets.

Simon Henig, Leader of Durham County Council said: “Lumiere has been a spectacular success for Durham. We are delighted that Artichoke agreed to work with us and we are now talking to them about a biennial festival of light, one that would continue to forge links with artists and communities throughout the county, up to and including 2013″.

Helen Marriage, Artistic Director of Artichoke said: “We were really delighted to have been invited to produce Lumiere in Durham. When our local co-producer David Bilton of dgb events came up with the idea of a collaboration, we were immediately inspired both by the very strong partnerships that exist within this extraordinary city as well as its wonderful architecture and landscapes.”

Durham County Council in partnership with the University and the Cathedral is rightly proud of its historic cultural heritage with the world renowned World Heritage Site. All Durham’s institutions are backing the city’s bid to win the newly designated UK City of Culture for 2013.

Artichoke’s involvement, together with principal sponsor Sky Arts, meant that an ambitious programme designed to animate every nook and cranny of the city was made possible. Sky Arts co-commissioned the Sky Walkers – living artworks that took to the streets to distribute information to passers-by. The channel will also create a series of short films following ten of the Lumiere artists, exploring the inspiration behind their installations and the technical challenges involved, as well as a 30-minute documentary of the whole event to air in December.

“We were delighted to see how Lumiere came to life on the streets of Durham,” comments John Cassy, director of Sky Arts. “We’d been following the artistic process of many of the artists involved, and so to see their work realised, and to see the thousands of people that were engaged and inspired by it, was truly exciting.”

Lumiere forms part of North East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events, developed by culture10. Supported by Durham County Council, Lumiere is also a measure of Durham’s scale of commitment to developing the city’s cultural offering for its communities and visitors, underlined by the recent announcement of its intention to bid to be the first UK City of Culture in 2013.

Lumiere will air on Sky Arts 1 HD and Sky Arts1 on Sunday 8th December at 7pm and 15th December at 6.30pm.

Editor’s Notes

Artichoke
Artichoke is a registered charity, funded by Arts Council England. Artichoke works with the best creative minds to produce extraordinary shows that live in the memory forever, and believes that the arts should take place not only behind the closed doors of theatres and art galleries, but also in public places. In May 2006, Artichoke presented the biggest piece of free theatre ever seen in the UK, Royal de Luxe’s The Sultan’s Elephant. The story of the little girl giant and the 30 foot tall elephant won the hearts of the nation and the press claimed a million people filled the streets of London to watch. In 2008 the company joined London and New York by means of Paul St George’s Telectroscope, and people gathered day and night on both sides of the Atlantic to reunite lost family members or simply to catch a glimpse of life across the pond. Also in 2008 the company mounted the flagship event for Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations, with La Machine’s 50-foot high mechanical spider and her adventures in the city. And in 2009 the company has produced Antony Gormley’s 100-day long invasion of the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, One & Other.

Sky Arts has generously committed to working with Artichoke for the next two years. Their support will enable Artichoke to develop new opportunities for artists to create work across the country and new ways to delight, surprise and challenge audiences everywhere.

About Durham Festivals and Events
In 2008, Durham hosted the award-winning Enlightenment, its first-ever international light based arts festival featuring outdoor arts installations by Asian and British artists and inspired by the county’s religious and industrial heritage. 30,000 visitors saw Durham’s bridges, river, landmarks and shop fronts transformed into a stunning exhibition of light based art. BRASS: Durham International Festival is one of the world’s fastest growing festivals celebrating global brass music. Over the past three years, Durham has welcomed musicians from five continents and more than 20 countries and annual audiences in excess of 80,000 for two weeks of free street performances and big band concerts in July. At the same time, work is underway to revive the lost tradition of Mystery plays in Durham. These biblical stories are being reinterpreted through contemporary media by local Durham artists under the direction of the city’s Gala Theatre. Durham’s Book Festival attracts leading literary figures each year to celebrate the power of the written word. In 2008, the festival was headlined by best-selling authors, Kate Atkinson (Whitbread prize-winner – Behind the Scenes at the Museum) and Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe series), TV comedian, author and activist Mark Thomas, and veteran BBC War correspondent Kate Adie.

Sky Arts: On Screen, Online, Onstage, and On the Streets
Lumiere is produced as part of a major two-year sponsorship with Artichoke, the ground-breaking company that brings art to the streets of towns and cities across the UK. Sky Arts is one of the largest corporate sponsors of the arts in the UK. With four arts channels in over 9 million customer homes across the UK and Ireland, Sky Arts has doubled output to 36 hours every day of the week on Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2, with Sky Arts 1 HD and Sky Arts 2 HD offering the best programmes in glorious high definition Sky supports the arts and make them accessible off as well as on screen, to the broadest possible audience. Recent programme highlights include The Book Show – the UK’s only television programme dedicated to books, hosted by Mariella Frostrup; Songbook, a series on some of the greatest songwriters of the day; and Sky Arts Theatre Live! which saw Sky Arts return live theatre to television for the first time in twenty years.

Partners
Lumiere is produced by Artichoke in partnership with Sky Arts and with the support of Arts Council England. It is part of the 2009 Sky Arts Artichoke season and forms part of North East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events developed by culture10. The event is generously supported by Durham County Council and culture10, and a range of other sponsors and supporters including the European Union, Lumalive, JCB, Durham University and Durham Cathedral. Artichoke was invited to produce a large-scale event in Durham at the suggestion of Newcastle-based producer DGB Events.

About the City of Culture 2013 Bid
Durham’s culture bid is led by Durham County Council, in partnership with County Durham Partnership, Visit County Durham and Durham City Vision. The bid will centre around the following strands: ‘Cultural City – Cultural County’: a series of activities reconnecting the communities of the county with its capital city and vice-versa, reenergising the City as the economic, social and creative heart of the county. ‘Creative Durham’: a series of activities designed to enhance the county’s cultural life, encouraging community participation in cultural activities and promote Durham as an area where creative people can live and work. ‘Festival Durham’: an ambitious programme of events and festivals which will take Durham into the next decade, cementing its position as a true cultural destination. The new UK City of Culture competition was proposed to enable towns and cities to access the type of culture-led benefits that Liverpool achieved as European Capital of Culture in 2008. Evidence of the impact to Liverpool in 2008 can be accessed at www.impact08.net . Durham will be the first predominantly rural area to bid to take advantage of the benefits culture-led regeneration brings. Funding for the proposed bid comes from Performance Award Grant money awarded to local authorities who perform well.

About culture10
Lumiere forms part of North East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events in 2009, managed by culture10. culture10 is an annual curated programme of exceptional cultural events and festivals across NewcastleGateshead and North East England. Established in 2004, it is managed by the culture10 team, funded by Newcastle City Council, Gateshead Council, One North East, Northern Rock Foundation and Arts Council England, North East, working in partnership with NewcastleGateshead Initiative. For further details see www.NewcastleGateshead.com

Contacts
For further information / Use of pictures / Interviews
Idea Generation: +44(0)20 7749 6850
Ellen Harrison: ellen@ideageneration.co.uk
Emily Airton: emily@ideageneration.co.uk
Artichoke website
Lumiere website
Durham City of Culture website

2,400 plinthers; 35,000 applications; one person every hour, 24 hours a day for 100 days… Antony Gormley’s One & Other Fourth Plinth living monument will end at 9:00am today when last plinther Emma Burns steps down from the plinth.

Antony Gormley’s One & Other living monument for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square will end Wednesday 14th October at 9:00am, when Emma Burns, a 30 year old medical photographer from Darlington becomes the last member of the public to leave the plinth.

Commissioned by the Mayor of London and produced by Artichoke in partnership with Sky Arts, and supported by Arts Council England, One & Other has seen a different person take their place on the Fourth Plinth every hour, 24 hours a day for 100 days. By 9:00am on Wednesday 14th October, 2,400 people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures and from all over the UK will have participated in this unique piece of art. Ranging in age from 16 to 84, they have travelled from as far afield as Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands to Derry, N. Ireland to be part of this collective portrait of the UK of 2009.

There has been huge engagement with the project around the globe through the One & Other project website, developed for Sky Arts, which streamed the full 100 days in its entirety. www.oneandother.co.uk has to date received over half a million unique users, who have made over 16,000 comments on plinthers’ profiles since the project began, with over 7.5 million page impressions, and over 35,000 applications. The weekly highlights programme also saw luminaries from the arts and beyond debating and reflecting on the project, including Grayson Perry, Joan Bakewell, Ken Livingstone and Bettany Hughes.

One & Other has welcomed participants as diverse as astronomers and anthropologists, barmaids and burlesque dancers, poets and plasterers, with activities including cycling, dancing, story-telling, campaigning and fundraising, cooking, preaching, stripping, puppetry and just meditating.

1210 men and 1190 women of all ages:
• 131 teenagers went on the plinth
• 10 were 16 years old
• 39 was the most popular age
• the highest number of plinthers were in their 20s (603)
• 590 plinthers were in their 30s
• 551 plinthers were in their 40s
• 364 plinthers were in their 50s
• 142 plinthers were in their 60s
• 15 plinthers were in their 70s
• 3 octogenarians took part – the oldest was 84

People from all walks of life:
• doctors and nurses
• company directors
• taxi drivers
• plumbers and mechanics
• housewives and house-husbands
• teachers and students
• artists and actors
• activists
• policemen
• lorry drivers
• civil servants and administrators
• film and theatre directors
• pensioners

One & Other project website, developed by Sky Arts saw:
• More than 7,500,000 page impressions
• 691,000 unique users
• 160,270 tweets about One & Other
• More than 4,000 friends on Facebook
• 4,000 pictures on Flickr
• More than 10,000 pledges to watch
• 33,000 comments posted
• 34,500 applications
• An average of 10 mins on site

Antony Gormley said: “Art should be for everyone, this was an experiment to see whether everyone could be involved in making it. Who can be represented in art? How can we make it? How can we experience it? These are questions that have exercised me for years. I am inspired and given hope by what we have done this last three months. Whatever goes on the plinth hereafter the square will never be the same; the memory of this summer’s living sculpture in all its diversity is indelible.”

Although the project has ended, a complete record of it will remain. Each participant was photographed before taking to the plinth and interviewed as part of an extensive oral history project. It is planned that a full record of the event will be accessible for posterity via the Wellcome Library. The project website will be lodged in and made accessible by the British Library, which has selected it as a way of preserving the project for the democratisation of art it represents.

In addition, Jonathan Cape / Random House will publish the fully illustrated book of One & Other, including images of each participant, interviews, and analysis by an anthropologist, a sociologist, a psychoanalyst and an art historian.

Publisher Mark Holborn commented: “We are thrilled to be engaged in the enterprise because we will be making a book that will be looked at by future generations. The photographic evidence and the oral testaments constitute an extraordinary view of British life at the end of this troubled first decade of a new millennium. In generations to come people will be able to look back at this exposure of British society in the very centre of the nation but outside the high temple of art. At over 700 pages long, the book will be no less monumental in scale than the project itself.”

From the entertaining to the campaigning, and creative to the contemplative, the 2,400 individuals who have taken part in One & Other have each left their own mark on a unique artistic experiment:

The Activists:
People chose to use their hour for an extraordinary variety of causes in ever more inventive ways, raising a huge amount for charity in the process, from animal welfare, to the environment, to human rights, and all with a personal story to explain their involvement. Rachel Wardell (Rachel W), the first person on the plinth, raised awareness for the NSPCC; Abby Jackson (Minibeastgirl) dressed as a butterfly to raise awareness for the WWF; Brian Capaloff (Brian_C) read a statement on behalf of a woman on death row in Texas; while Liz Crow (Liz_C) sat motionless in her wheelchair dressed as a nazi to convey a message about attitudes to disability today.

The Creatives:
From painters, sculptors, and photographers, to costume makers, singers and dancers, creatives of all persuasions brought their art to the plinth. Amanda Hall (Amanda) created a statue out of bread inspired by Gormley’s Event Horizon; Sharon Kirk (Sharon K), excited many with her masked keyboard playing; Verity Standen (Verity) charmed onlookers with her beautiful song; Scott Cupit (Scottie800) gave an impromptu swing dance class; Amy Weinberger (Amy_W) posed as a statue, slowly stripping of throughout hour, to reveal a body painted as the inside of a human body.

The Promoters:
Others used the plinth to promote themselves, their companies, professions and other businesses. Alex Kearns (Alex_Kearns), a 23 year old man from Kingston-Upon-Thames successfully landed a job with a top City firm after hanging his CV from the plinth. Mike Pitts (Mike_P_1) took Archaeology to the plinth, laying out a series of stones which together summed up the entire history of humanity in the British Isles. Scott Illman (scottdistillers) dressed as a town-crier to promote his chain of London pubs.

The Communicators:
People came armed with mobile phones, laptop computers, megaphones, blackboards, pens and paper, to spread their messages and simply communicate with observers on the ground, friends, family and anyone who chose to text and tweet them. Jonathan Harkins (Jonathan) declared himself a human telegraph inviting people to send him their messages of love which he then read out on the plinth – one was a proposal of marriage; Gwynneth Pedler (Tenacious), the oldest plinther at 84, signalled with semaphore flags from her wheelchair whilst on the plinth.

The Contemplators:
Others used their hour in more introspective ways, practicing yoga, reading, or simply stood or sat contemplating the square . Liz Gray (Sarada) from Leicester, Helen Gillard (Helen_K) was one of many who practiced yoga on the plinth. Of those who chose to “do nothing” Lewis Orchard (Lewisorchard) proved the most popular on Twitter.

A full list of plinthers profiles, along with their hours on the plinth can be found at www.oneandother.co.uk.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: “Over the past 100 days we have witnessed the bold, the beautiful, the thought provoking and the bizarre. In the age of X Factor and Guitar Hero, Gormley’s plinthers have quite literally stood alone. But in taking to this unique stage they have also become part of a living patchwork of humanity. Whatever your views, One & Other continues the Fourth Plinth tradition to inspire, provoke and irritate in equal measure.”

Ekow Eshun, Chair of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, said: “With One & Other Antony Gormley attempted to create a portrait of Britain and as the project comes to its close it’s clear he’s done exactly that. When I say that, I think not only of the volunteers on the plinth, but the millions of people who clocked onto the website to see what they were doing and the thousands more who walked through Trafalgar Square every day and found themselves engaging with whoever was on the plinth at the time. In that respect, the project was about all of us. It’s been debated and celebrated across the country and hour by hour over 100 days, we’ve been able to see our individual and collective hopes, concerns and desires stand on display. It’s a fantastic achievement.”

John Cassy, director of Sky Arts, said: “We knew as soon as we became involved in One & Other that it was going to be an extraordinary hundred days, but I don’t think any of us could have predicted the scale and speed with which it would become so intrinsic to the cultural landscape of Trafalgar Square and beyond. We’re thrilled to have played a part in giving this project a voice and life outside of London, and look forward to working with Artichoke in future to continue bringing the arts to the people across the UK.”

Artichoke, an Arts Council regularly funded organisation, best known for bringing The Sultan’s Elephant to London in 2006 and La Machine to Liverpool last year – produced the event as part of the 2009 Sky Arts Artichoke Season, which underlines Sky’s ongoing commitment to the airs, on screen, online and on the streets.

Press Enquiries:
For further information / Use of pictures / Interviews
Anna Vinegrad/ Emily Airton Idea Generation, 0207 749 6853
anna@ideageneration.co.uk or emily@ideageneration.co.uk

Entre Terre et Ciel by Airvag

A spectacular multi-sensory celebration of light fusing ancient and modern in Durham

12th – 15th November 2009

For four nights only, UK and international artists will work with light to transform Durham’s historic landmarks, city streets, gardens and riverways into a breathtaking nocturnal landscape of magical happenings.

Producers of extraordinary live events Artichoke, renowned for the spectacular successes, La Machine, The Sultan’s Elephant and Antony Gormley’s Fourth Plinth commission One & Other, announce their latest project – Lumiere – an ambitious and spectacular festival of light for Durham, produced in partnership with Sky Arts.

From the 12th-15th November 2009, the historic city of Durham will provide the stunning canvas for leading international and UK artists and performers to work with light, fusing together sight, sound and movement in a mesmerising series of site-specific installations, new commissions and performances.

In the tradition of the greatest international festivals of light, Lumiere will set Durham ablaze, picking out and transforming the landmarks, streets, river and bridges of the city in new and unimagined ways. Artists include the British-based collective United Visual Artists, international artists Ron Haselden, Simon Corder and Daan Roosegaarde, projection artist Ross Ashton, eminent lighting designer Mark Major, London-based studio Creatmosphere, and French theatrical magicians Quidams, with a magical performance that will lead the audience through the city streets.

Lumiere is part of the 2009 Sky Arts Artichoke Season and forms part of North East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events, developed by culture10.

Supported by Durham County Council, Lumiere is also a measure of Durham’s scale of commitment to developing the city’s cultural offering for its communities and visitors, underlined by the recent announcement of its intention to bid to be the first UK City of Culture in 2013.

“After the success of Enlightenment last year, which attracted 30,000 visitors to the city, the potential was there to create a truly spectacular and inspirational event for Durham as part of our broader cultural offering. We asked Artichoke to produce this year’s festival because of their track record of live events that leave a lasting impression on the people and places they transform.” said Paul Gudgin, creative consultant for Durham’s UK City of Culture 2013 bid.

Artichoke is keeping the exact details of Lumiere under wraps. “The element of surprise and delight is key to what we do” said Helen Marriage, Co-director of Artichoke. “Whether we work with artists who create 50-foot high moving elephants, 42-tonne spiders or tunnels under the Atlantic, all our work is about giving the public unforgettable, magical experiences that make them look at their surroundings in a different way. Durham is a wonderful city, and we’re pleased to have been invited to produce Lumiere there.”

Culture10’s Creative Director, Stella Hall, praised the project’s ambition, saying, “Lumiere will highlight a range of locations in historic Durham this Winter, drawing in visitors and residents alike to explore the city. Audiences will enjoy encounters with many surprising and innovative artworks by a number of internationally recognised artists. Part of our region-wide festivals and events programme, which for 2009 focuses on the North East region’s Landscape & Heritage, we are delighted to be part of the development of Durham’s festival offer towards their aspiration to become UK City of Culture in 2013.”

For Sky Arts, Lumiere fits perfectly with the channel’s mission to bring the arts to the streets of towns and cities across the UK and make them accessible to the broadest possible audience. Sky Arts will produce a series of short films, following ten of the artists through the stages of concept, creation and installation of their works.

“As a North East man born and bred, I can’t wait to see Lumiere in Durham” comments Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Chief Executive. “Having heard about the plans from the Sky Arts and Artichoke teams, I know it’s going to be a spectacular event, giving people new and unexpected ways of looking at art against the backdrop of one of the UK’s most beautiful cities.”

Artichoke:

Artichoke is a registered charity, funded by Arts Council England. Artichoke works with the best creative minds to produce extraordinary shows that live in the memory forever, and believes that the arts should take place not only behind the closed doors of theatres and art galleries, but also in public places.

In May 2006, Artichoke presented the biggest piece of free theatre ever seen in the UK, Royal de Luxe’s The Sultan’s Elephant. The story of the little girl giant and the 30 foot tall elephant won the hearts of the nation and the press claimed a million people filled the streets of London to watch. In 2008 the company joined London and New York by means of Paul St George’s Telectroscope, and people gathered day and night on both sides of the Atlantic to reunite lost family members or simply to catch a glimpse of life across the pond. Also in 2008 the company mounted the flagship event for Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations, with La Machine’s 50-foot high mechanical spider and her adventures in the city. And in 2009 the company has produced Antony Gormley’s 100-day long invasion of the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, One & Other.

Sky Arts has generously committed to working with Artichoke for the next two years. Their support will enable Artichoke to develop new opportunities for artists to create work across the country and new ways to delight, surprise and challenge audiences everywhere.

Sky Arts: On Screen, Online, On stage, and On the Streets

Lumiere is produced as part of a major two-year sponsorship with Artichoke, the ground-breaking company that brings art to the streets of towns and cities across the UK. Sky Arts is one of the largest corporate sponsors of the arts in the UK.

With four arts channels in over 9 million customer homes across the UK and Ireland, Sky Arts has doubled output to 36 hours every day of the week on Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2, with Sky Arts 1 HD and Sky Arts 2 HD offering the best programmes in glorious high definition

Sky supports the arts and make them accessible off as well as on screen, to the broadest possible audience. Recent programme highlights include The Book Show – the UK’s only television programme dedicated to books, hosted by Mariella Frostrup; Songbook, a series on some of the greatest songwriters of the day; and Sky Arts Theatre Live! which saw Sky Arts return live theatre to television for the first time in twenty years.

About Durham Festivals and Events:

In 2008, Durham hosted the award-winning Enlightenment, its first-ever international light based arts festival featuring outdoor arts installations by Asian and British artists and inspired by the county’s religious and industrial heritage. 30,000 visitors saw Durham’s bridges, river, landmarks and shop fronts transformed into a stunning exhibition of light based art, presented as part of the EAST ’08 season of North East England’s world-class festivals and events programme, developed by culture10.

BRASS: Durham International Festival, another of the festivals featured in North East England’s world-class festivals and events programme, is one of the world’s fastest growing festivals celebrating global brass music. Over the past three years, Durham has welcomed musicians from five continents and more than 20 countries and annual audiences in excess of 80,000 for two weeks of free street performances and big band concerts in July.

At the same time, work is underway to revive the lost tradition of Mystery plays in Durham. These biblical stories are being reinterpreted through contemporary media by local Durham artists under the direction of the
city’s Gala Theatre, in partnership with culture10.

Durham’s Book Festival attracts leading literary figures each year to
celebrate the power of the written word. In 2008, the festival was headlined by best-selling authors, Kate Atkinson (Whitbread prize-winner – Behind the Scenes at the Museum) and Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe series), TV comedian, author and activist Mark Thomas, and veteran BBC War correspondent Kate Adie.

About the City of Culture 2013 Bid:

Durham’s culture bid is led by Durham County Council, in partnership with County Durham Partnership, Visit County Durham and Durham City Vision. The bid will centre around the following strands:

‘Cultural City – Cultural County’: a series of activities reconnecting the communities of the county with its capital city and vice-versa, re-energising the City as the economic, social and creative heart of the county. ‘Creative Durham’: a series of activities designed to enhance the county’s cultural life, encouraging community participation in cultural activities and promote Durham as an area where creative people can live and work. ‘Festival Durham’: an ambitious programme of events and festivals which will take Durham into the next decade, cementing its position as a true cultural destination.

The new UK City of Culture competition was proposed to enable towns and cities to access the type of culture-led benefits that Liverpool achieved as European Capital of Culture in 2008. Evidence of the impact to Liverpool in 2008 can be accessed at www.impact08.net . Durham will be the first predominantly rural area to bid to take advantage of the benefits culture-led regeneration brings. Funding for the proposed bid comes from Performance Award Grant, money awarded to local authorities who perform well.

About culture10:

culture10 is a unique curated programme of exceptional cultural events and festivals across the North East of England. It is managed by the culture10 team, based at NewcastleGateshead Initiative, and, in addition to regular annual and biennial events in music, film, performance and food and drink, is focused on the region’s Landscape and Heritage for 2009. Initiated in 2004, its programme has included events such as Battleship Potemkin with the Petshop Boys and La fura dels Baus on the river Tyne, as well as Durham’s first light festival Enlightenment and next year’s Mysteries. It is funded by Northern Rock Foundation, Gateshead Council, Newcastle Council, One North East and Arts Council England North East.

Partner organisations:

As well as the partnerships with Sky Arts, Durham County Council and culture10, Lumiere is sponsored by a variety of other organisations, including the European Union, National Express (trains), Marriott Hotels and JCB Ltd. Artichoke is working with Newcastle-based producer DGB Events to deliver the event, which also receives support from partners including Durham City Vision, the University of Durham and Durham Cathedral.

Contacts:

For further information / Use of pictures / Interviews
Idea Generation: +44(0)20 7749 6850
Ellen Harrison: ellen@ideageneration.co.uk
Emily Airton: emily@ideageneration.co.uk
Artichoke website
Lumiere website
Durham City of Culture website