We took the wonder of the park itself and our natural world as inspiration for the artworks. Kathy Hinde brought Chirp and Drift and Luminous Birds; Dan Fox’s Luminosi Trees filled the Rose Garden with melodic delight; Jack Wimperis created an island of floating milk bottles to the pond - entertaining the ducks and swans as well as all our visitors'; Pif Paf’s Celestial Sound Cloud had people dancing and laughing together - young and old - as did Jonny Godsmark’s piece The Hedge is Always Greener which highlighted the impact of litter in public places through light and disco tracks. The park’s incredible bandstand was filled with the Northern Lights with Stellar Project’s Revontulet and Tine Bech’s playful approach to colour with her Enchanted Connections allowed visitors to have control over their immediate environment. Lou Chapelle allowed visitors to seemingly hold butterflies in their hands - all species that are in danger of extinction. The manicured lawns were filled with mesmorising Fireflies from Studio Toer and Illumaphonium’s HALO. Ian Douglas found a home in a copse of trees -the perfect spot for some magical story-telling alongside Shadowplay by Wild Rumpus.
We were also very pleased to work with local artists Anna F C Smith and Helen Mather on their Botanical Society sculpture, co-created with members of the local community and Wigan Youth Zone. The piece was inspired by victorian working class groups of amateur botanists as well as the beautiful stained glass windows often found in Wigan’s amazing heritage buildings. The piece combined illuminated resin tiles created with natural finds from around the park, as well as poems created by young people from the Youth Zone - all inspired by the great outdoors.
It was an absolute pleasure to introduce our Wigan Borough Icons to Light Night Wigan 2023 - a project we will continue each year to celebrate the people of Wigan now and of the past. The project was launched by Hacker T Dog and local children were invited to send in their full length portraits of their favourite local hero. A judging panel including the team at Blackpool Illuminations and Antonio Capelao from Soho Kids Christmas Lights had the difficult but very fun job of looking through all 400 applications to find the winning 3 which were then interpreted into neon sculptures. We are thrilled with how these turned out and loved meeting the winning artists, Darcey (5), Arlo (10) and Beatrix (7) on our opening night - and welcoming Crusty The Pie, Ella Toone and Andy Farrell into our collection!
Credits
Artists :
Illumaphonium, Kathy Hinde, Dan Fox, Alison Duddle and Bird In The Hand Theatre, Jack Wimperis, Pif Paf, Lou Chapelle, Stellar Projects, Anna F C Sith and Helen Mather, Tine Bech, Studio Toer, Ian Douglas, Wild Rumpus, Beatrix, Darcey and Arlo.
Production: Wigan Council
Creative Producers : Jude Jagger and Gemma Saunders
Artist Technical Manager: Helen Gorton
Photos: Nick Fairhurst
Video: Northern Heart Films
With thanks to Arts Council England, Wigan Council and all our partners at Light Up The North
and dbnAudile Production Stuff, Location Power, Blackpool Illuminations, Phil Fletcher and Hacker T Dog, Antonio Capelao and the Soho Kids Xmas Lights, Newburgh Christmas Lights, Wigan and Leigh College, Wigan Youth Zone, Friends of Mesnes Park, Fredericks Cafe Wigan, Subscription Bowling Club, Lauren Banks, Bec Bryan, Open Eye Gallery, Wigan Rotary Club, LeisureTec, Green Spaces team, Capricorn Security Group
Light Night Wigan 2023
Due to popular demand and the challenges of working alongside the canal, we moved Light Night Wigan 2023 from the canal-side to the incredible Mesnes Park.