SPECTRA Scotland's Festival Of Light Launches Tonight Across Aberdeen

SPECTRA, Scotland's festival of light, launches at 6.30pm on Thursday 10 February at sites across Aberdeen city centre. Running until Sunday 13 February, visitors and festival fans can expect new commissions, multidisciplinary collaborations, Scotland premieres, and a brand-new 'live' line-up, as SPECTRA lights up the dark winter nights in Scotland's Year of Stories.

Organisers are excited to unveil an exciting new strand of live performances that has been added to this year's programme and the festival will play host to a range of storytelling, dance performances and family friendly scientific talks, at sites across the city throughout the weekend.

In this Year of Stories, join storytellers Pauline Cordiner and Lindsey Gibb for upbeat tales of magic and mystery featuring famished fairies, blethering puddocks, glaekit loons and gralloched giants, or join planetary volcanologist Dr Malcolm Hole from University of Aberdeen under Luke Jerram's Museum of the Moon (at Music Hall Aberdeen) to hear about the history and the future of the moon.

For those who would rather keep moving there will be two projector bikes from Sound Intervention located on Schoolhill and Upperkirkgate. These battery powered electric trikes with digital projectors and a powerful sound systems allow the cycling DJ projectionists to manipulate the projectors and manually move the images, improvising and interacting with people and architecture.

Fusion Youth Dance Company will also be performing at Castlegate from Thursday 10 - Saturday 12 February, so keep your eyes peeled as they present Together They Dance which was inspired by TOGETHER from Lucid Creates.

This year's programme of award-winning installations from UK based and International Artists will appear at Marischal College, Broad Street, Upperkirkgate, Schoolhill, Marischal Square, Aberdeen Music Hall, and for the very first time, inside Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Cllr Jenny Laing, Aberdeen City Council Leader, said: ""Spectra is finally back after a long break due to the pandemic and Aberdeen is ready to welcome everyone into the city centre to enjoy these spectacular light installations. Already we've seen groups of people stopping to admire the work as it's been constructed this week, particularly Together in the Castlegate which is a real showstopper! Following the challenges we've faced over the last two years, and with those still to come as we transition out of the pandemic, it's hugely encouraging to welcome back large public events which give us reason to celebrate our city, its people, and art. We hope everyone enjoys it, stays safe and that we can look forward to many more great festivals and events throughout the year in Aberdeen and across the country."

A key highlight this year is the world premiere of Writ Large. Commissioned as part of Scotland's Year of Stories and in partnership with prize-winning literary collective and arts production house Neu Reekie, Writ Large combines creative light installations with words to bring Scottish prose and poetry to life. Exploding the colourful words of contemporary Scottish poets, writers, musicians, and artists onto buildings across the city centre including Aberdeen Art Gallery, Marischal College, Castlegate, Upper Kirkgate and Schoolhill, Writ Large is supported by Event Scotland.

In addition to the world premiere of Writ Large, TOGETHER makes its Scottish debut at SPECTRA in 2022. This spectacular public-art installation offers audiences a unique and immersive experience generated by the written and spoken stories of local communities, artists and collaborators, and it will take over Castlegate in Aberdeen city centre. From design and fabrication studio Lucid Creates, TOGETHER was created as a reaction to the isolation of lockdown.

And in another first, Aberdeen will welcome Gaia and Museum of the Moon by artist Luke Jerram, as these awe-inspiring pieces take over two icon Aberdeen locations, accompanied by a specially made surround sound composition by BAFTA award winning composer Dan Jones.

Located in the Sculpture Court of Aberdeen Art Gallery, Gaia provides the opportunity to see our planet, floating in three dimensions, and this 7-meter diameter installation creates a sense of awe and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment. Where Gaia gives viewers a perspective on earth, suspended in Aberdeen Music Hall, Museum of the Moon gives us a similarly breath-taking depiction of the Moon. Inspired by the fact that different cultures around the world have their own historical, cultural, scientific and religious relationships to the Moon, and yet despite these differences, the Moon connects them all, Museum of the Moon is a fusion of lunar imagery, moonlight and surround sound.

Located on Broad Street, the incredible Pendulum Wave Machine sees shimmering silver balls hanging in the air like floating mercury, dancing their way through patterns of order and patterns of chaos and alongside it, Hypercube resembles an infinity mirror in 3 dimensions. Featuring over 2,500 high density, high intensity LEDs between 6 perfectly engineered faces of a giant cube, it is believed to be the biggest hypercube in the world. Both installations are the work of Travelling Light Circus.

Trumpet Flowers by amigo and amigo is also located on Broad Street and is one of this year's only interactive installations and it is the first time it has ever been seen in Scotland. These super-sized structures immerse audiences in a jungle of light, colour and sound and individuals can make their own spectacular floral symphony of sound and light or catch one of the scheduled animated musicals scores throughout the evening.

And, last but by no means least, at Marischal Collage another world premiere will unfold as Six Frames from Illuminos takes centre stage. A playful interpretation of six stanzas from Sheena Blackhall's poem On the Bus: nummer 1 route Six Frames uses six repeating sections of the Marischal College façade alongside principles found in flick books and early animation, to take us on a journey through Aberdeen from the bus route of the poem.

As ever, Spectra is a beautiful, everyone-friendly event bringing stunning, accessible and high-quality works of art by Scottish and International Artists to buildings and public spaces in the centre of Aberdeen and bathing them in light and joy. As we continue to manage the ongoing pandemic and ensure a safe environment for visitors and artists, this edition of Spectra may feel different to previous years while still delivering a spectacular experience.

The Spectra website will share more information on the installations and how to enjoy them, whether travelling into the city centre with family or travelling from Dundee, Perth or Edinburgh with friends www.spectrafestival.co.uk

Comissioned by Aberdeen City Council and delivered by the award-winning Curated Place, Spectra is just one of a year-round programme of cultural events that takes place in Scotland's North East, and this year it is accompanied once again by the Catalyst Conference, which this year takes place entirely online and explores the concept #CultureisNotaLuxury. More information and sign up here - https://www.spectrafestival.co.uk/conference

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