Andy Munns
Tickets to November’s popular light and sound spectacular, Sarum Lights, created by Luxmuralis, are now on sale via Salisbury Cathedral’s website.
This year‘s show, Sarum Lights: Illuminating Art, takes visitors on a stunning journey from Baroque Art and the Protestant-Catholic conflicts of the 16th century through to Art Deco and early 20th-century industrialisation and photography.
Displays in the Cloisters, Trinity Chapel and North Nave Aisle reflect on four centuries of ‘new’ ideas, starting with the concept of moral philosophy, natural science and the first English dictionary, and moving on to the American War of Independence abolition of slavery and women’s emancipation. As we reach the 19th century, Brunel and the age of steam rub shoulders with early photography and Zoetrope (an early animation device).
In the North Transept, an interactive display, Starry, Starry Night (part of an installation devoted to impressionism and post-impressionism), invites visitors to write and share their thoughts on star-shaped cards, a reference to Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, painted a year before his death when he was in Saint-Paul asylum in Saint-Rémy.
The finale in the Nave showcases the Pre-Raphaelites (Burne-Jones, Millais, Rossetti and Holman Hunt) and the Impressionists (Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Manet and Renoir) – all titans of their generation seen in a new light.
Luxmuralis’ Artistic Director Peter Walker said: “Visitors can choose how they want to experience the exhibition, either basking in glorious images and sound or digging a little deeper and contemplating the big ideas that emerged after the Renaissance. It is their choice.
“All the paintings we know and love will be there, but there will also be areas that investigate what was happening when those pictures were created.”
Kenneth Padley, Canon Treasurer and chair of Salisbury Cathedral’s Arts Advisory Panel, said: “Cathedrals have always used art, light and sound to explore their ideas and values, so projections like this work really well in here, and the space itself adds another layer to the experience.
“The timing is particularly poignant, too, with this show exploring significant ideas and movements as we move into Advent, the period in which we prepare for the coming of God’s light at Christmas.”
Sarum Lights: Illuminating Art opens on Tuesday, 7th November, and runs until Saturday, 11th November 2023.
Tickets are available via the Cathedral website – £10 for adults (17+), £6 for young people (4-16) and babies/toddlers (0-3) free. The first showing is at 17.30 daily, with new slots available every 15 minutes.
Please contact the Cathedral box office to book your tickets for visitors with access requirements or children aged between 0-3 years.
The box office is available on 01722 656 555, by email at boxoffice@salcath.co.uk, or in person from Monday – Friday between 09:30-16:00.
The first hour of the event (17.30-18.30) on Tuesday, 7th November, and Wednesday, 8th November, will have reduced noise levels for those sensitive to sound.
Please book either the 17:30 or 17:45 slots. If you are sensitive to sound but wish to attend later showings, you may wish to bring earplugs/sound-reducing headsets.
