Lumiere: For the birds

We have just had the weekend of Lumiere, Durham's biennial festival of lights. As usual we made some expeditions to see what was on show, and, as usual, my reactions were pretty mixed. For the first two evenings they ranged from "Oh, that's quite nice..." to "Let me out of here, NOW!" And I hope to expand on that later. But on Saturday we went to the Botanic Gardens to see For the Birds, with no idea what to expect beyond what the Lumiere website told us: "a meditative and immersive journey through the wilderness to discover over 20 light and sound installations inspired by birds and created by a collective of artists:" Useful practical information might have added: "You enter by the gate adjacent to the Park & Ride, walk the length of the Gardens, and back, leaving through the same gate you came in."

What they really couldn't say, I suppose, is that this was by some margin the best thing in the Festival. Also the hardest to photograph, because it makes the best use of darkness.

But wrap up warm and come for a walk in the dark woods. Just follow the little white lights:

( We were warned: 'There will be surprises' )

For the birds was devised in 2014 for the RSPB's Ynys-hir reserve. There are photographs on the website of one of the artists ihvolved.

Overheard of the evening: "But why would they have an installation of a crying child?"