Birmingham Hippodrome & British-Chinese Artist Aowen Jin Partnering for New Exhibit 'Midlight'

A stunning field of fibre optic lights will pop up at two Birmingham city centre sites in the approach to Christmas. Residents, city-centre workers, Christmas shoppers and visitors to the city will be able to view and control a unique and interactive art installation.

Commissioned and presented by Birmingham Hippodrome Creative, British-Chinese artist Aowen Jin's new outdoor artwork 'Midlight' invites people to create their own light displays. Through cutting-edge digital technology and social media interaction, the colours can be changed both with sound (music, singing, clapping etc) and via Twitter.

'Midlight' features thousands of LED lights with 90,000 colour variations which adjust so that no two experiences with the artwork are ever the same. The project is the first of its kind to include the participation of Birmingham's local Chinese community who live and work around the Hippodrome in the Southside district.

Aowen Jin is a renowned British-Chinese artist who works on critically-acclaimed public commissions that challenge cultural perceptions and social inclusivity.

Aowen explained: "Working with the Hippodrome Creative team on this project has been a real pleasure. As an artist it's so important to be able to create an original artwork that pushes boundaries and breaks new ground. Many organisations struggle with this, but the visionary team at the Hippodrome have been so supportive - they really embraced the concept and their help has been invaluable to getting it off the ground. Their devotion to engaging with the local community and bringing art to the city is admirable, and really does make Birmingham stronger as a whole."

Graham Callister, Birmingham Hippodrome's Creative Programme Director added: "Birmingham is now a super-diverse, international destination for culture that boasts an amazing array of artistic and creative talent. We want our creative programme to really engage with this agenda and offer something different for both our existing and new audiences. New commissions such as 'Midlight' do exactly that! Through Hippodrome Creative and the fantastic enthusiasm and commitment from our local Chinese volunteers and participants, Aowen has created a unique artwork that can bring together the city's communities at this very special time of year."

Viewing 'Midlight' is FREE to the public. It can be seen at St. Phillips Cathedral Gardens (Colmore Row) on Wednesday 16 December from 4pm - 7pm, and also in Millennium Point on Friday 18 December from 1pm - 5.30pm.

Visitors are encouraged to tweet the name of any colour to @himidlight and the installation will change colour.

'Midlight' is supported by Arts Council England, Southside BID, Birmingham City Council, Chicmi, Arcadian and Red Gate.

'Midlight' is the latest Hippodrome Creative project following hot on the heels of last month's '2,241 Reasons to Remember', a commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Birmingham Blitz. This summer Hippodrome Creative also produced two FREE outdoor events 'Summer in Southside' and 'Birmingham Weekender'.

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