The inaugural Enfield Winter Lights celebration will illuminate the streets of Enfield in February and March bringing light, joy and positivity.
Enfield Winter Lights is a series of large-scale art installations and activities designed to illuminate the town centres of Angel Edmonton, Enfield Town, Palmers Green and Southgate.
It will bring together artists, local businesses and the wider community, with spectacular light artworks designed to celebrate the heritage of Enfield and dazzle Angel Edmonton, Enfield Town, Palmers Green and Southgate with colour, creativity and innovation. Enfield Winter Lights is delivered by Artist Hive Studios in partnership with Enfield Council.
Six prominent UK based artists who have been shortlisted to deliver site-specific takeovers in each of the town centres. These artists are: Mark Beattie, Claire Luxton, Half A Roast Chicken (otherwise known as Eve De Haan), Dan Maier, Lauren Baker and King Owusu.
In addition, local artists have been selected to uplift our high street with mean-while installations activating vacant shops and connecting with local businesses. We will also invite the community to enjoy a curated borough-wide art trail viewable night and day, on billboards in seventeen locations.
Enfield Council’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Ian Barnes said: “The Winter Lights celebration will transform high streets through the darker winter months, showing how we can deliver art, for free, to everyone in the borough through accessible and exciting family friendly installations. We have some truly astonishing art works coming to Enfield, from larger than life building projections to an interactive exhibition within a shipping container, and much more in between.
“This ambitious public arts programme will help to bring local stories to life while encouraging visitors into our town centres, to offer support to our local businesses who will be nestled amongst these inspiring artworks. We know that culture can play a great role in economic development and to help shape local pride and identity for all our communities; I can’t wait to welcome everyone back to Enfield’s high streets."
As well as iconic outdoor art interventions Enfield Winter Lights will include interactive elements, where the community is encouraged to get creative. Workshops will be hosted by Blake Carlson-Joshua and architect and designer Purva Kundaje, Dan Maier and Jylle Navarro.
The festival pays homage to local luminary Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, a pioneer in the electronics industry and an early developer of a successful incandescent light bulb, over 130 years ago. In 1886 Edison Swan United Electric Light Co. took over the former jute mill at Duck Lees Lane in Ponders End and converted it to manufacture electric light bulbs, leading to the factory being known colloquially as ‘The Lamp’.
This work is supported by The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) Welcome Back Fund, established through a grant from the European Regional Development Fund (EDRF). Delivered by Artist Hive Studios. The money is helping Enfield Council put in place additional measures to establish a safe trading environment for businesses and customers in the wake of COVID-19, particularly in high streets, and support our local economy on the road to recovery.
Instagram and Facebook @enfieldwinterlights
Twitter @enfieldwinterl
#EnfieldWinterLights