It was the first time the creative collective, Luxmuralis, had brought a light and sound art installation to one of our cathedrals in the north east.
And it didn’t disappoint.
Luxmuralis Light and Sound Art Installations
Tickets at Durham Cathedral sold out from the first night and visitor numbers show more than 12,000 people – young and old – visited the cathedral during the five nights Life transformed the interior of Durham Cathedral with colourful light projections and an immersive soundscape last week.
Durham Cathedral has now announced Luxmuralis will return to the cathedral with a different show next October.
Andrew Usher, Chief Assistant Officer of Visitor Experience and Enterprise at Durham Cathedral, said:
“We’ve been blown away by the public response to Luxmuralis here in Durham.
“Where the installation has been shown in other cathedrals ticket sales are generally at around 60% sold on opening night. Here at Durham, we’d sold 98% of tickets as we opened the door on the first night and by the end of the evening all the tickets had gone.
“We’re delighted that so many people got to experience the event this year and appreciate that due to its popularity not everyone who wanted a ticket was able to get one so we’re already looking at how we can welcome more people to this highly sought after event next year.”
Those who did visit were keen to share their colourful videos and pictures on social media, with some describing the display as ‘fantastic’, ‘stunning’ and ‘immersive’, whilst others defined it as ‘calming’, ‘dreamlike’ and ‘emotional’.
The financial success of the event will help Durham Cathedral to be resilient in the face of high costs this coming winter, supporting the care of the cathedral buildings and enabling the team to continue to provide a warm welcome to visitors.
Luxmuralis is no stranger to our cathedrals. The creative duo, made up of artist Peter Walker and composer, David Harper, has been transforming our cathedrals with their immersive light and sound projections for a number of years. This weekend they will help Carlisle tell its story as part of the Hadrian’s Wall 1900 anniversary and Luxmuralis’ Science: Lighting up Our Universe opens in St Albans Cathedral on Tuesday 25 October for five nights.
More of their work can be found in Bristol, Salisbury, Peterborough, Sheffield, Liverpool and Winchester this autumn and winter.
Find out more about events at all our cathedrals.
Photo credit – Luxmuralis 2022 Peter Walker Sculptor
