Light art festival brightens London's streets

The dark January streets of London are being transformed into an illuminated outdoor gallery as part of the Lumiere London arts festival.

People take photographs of Nightlife by Lantern Company with Jo Pocock on show as part of the Lumiere London light festival in London on January 18, 2018.
AFP

People take photographs of Nightlife by Lantern Company with Jo Pocock on show as part of the Lumiere London light festival in London on January 18, 2018.

London's dark winter nights will shine a little brighter starting Thursday, as a nighttime art exhibition featuring a range of publicly displayed works that use light as a medium gets underway.

Lumiere London features over 50 works by British and overseas artists, located in public spaces, buildings and on the streets. The artists who have created works include Tracey Emin, Alaa Minawi, Julian Opie and Miguel Chevalier.

AFP

Voyage by Camille Gross and Leslie Epsztein is seen on show as part of the Lumiere London light festival in London on January 18, 2018.

"We've basically taken the centre of London and turned it into a giant, outdoor art gallery," said Helen Marriage, artistic director of Lumiere London.

"There are 58 installations all created by artists working with light in wonderful and extraordinary ways and people are free to wander; it's free to experience."

AFP

Child Hood by French artists Collectif Coin is seen on show as part of the Lumiere London light festival in London on January 18, 2018.

Reuters

Visitors to the South Bank look at The Wave, by Vertigo, one of several light installations placed around the capital which together form the Lumiere London festival, in London, Britain, January 17, 2018.

The works themselves comprise a range of installations, including a giant desk lamp in King's Cross, a triangular tunnel of light on the South Bank and one of London's iconic telephone boxes turned into an illuminated fish tank in Seven Dials.

AFP

A boy looks at fish in the Aquarium by artists Benedetto Bufalino and Benoit Deseille, on show as part of the Lumiere light festival in London on January 18, 2018.

Organisers say more than 1 million people attended the free festival when it was first held in the city two years ago, enjoying the rare chance to stroll usually traffic-clogged streets closed to traffic.

Reuters

Visitors to the South Bank walk through The Wave, by Vertigo, one of several light installations placed around the capital which together form the Lumiere London festival, in London, Britain, January 17, 2018.

Lumiere London runs from January 18-21. 

AP

People take photos of the artwork light display entitled Waterlicht by Daan Roosegaarde at Granary Square in London, during the Lumiere London light festival, January 17, 2018.

Route 6