Published on Thursday 25 August 2022
September is shaping up to be art month across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole with the arrival of Airship Orchestra, an ambitious custom light and sound installation, taking place in The Triangle.
As part of GIANT OFFSITE, a series of outdoor installations, Airship Orchestra, supported by BCP Council and Bournemouth Town Centre BID, will be running for four weeks and finishes with the Bournemouth Arts By the Sea Festival. Marking its European premiere, Airship Orchestra will be the colossal centrepiece for art month and will be in situ 8 September – 9 October 2022.
Created by ENESS, a multi award-winning art and technology studio led by Nimrod Weis, the custom light installation comprises 16 inflatables – some up to six metres – extending over a 500 square metre area. It is manifest as a mystical tribe of otherworldly characters beamed from the night stars, with glowing skin and voices like stardust. Visitors are beckoned inside the formation to bathe in volumetric sound and rhythmic light pulsation.
The installation of this world class artwork in Bournemouth is yet another confirmation of the town’s burgeoning status as an international hub for culture. In the summer of 2021, British artist Stuart Semple and his studio team transformed one floor of a former Debenhams department store – now Bobby’s Bournemouth – on the high street into GIANT, the largest art centre of its kind outside London
Cllr Beverley Dunlop, Portfolio Holder for Tourism, Culture and Vibrant Places at BCP Council said,
"Giant Gallery has put contemporary art right on our doorstep, showing international art works that most of us would never have the opportunity to see. We should not underestimate the impact of having a major artist like Stuart and his brilliant team, in town.
"Art has the power to change lives and I can truly say that this has happened to me since meeting Stuart and it is our ambition to extend the joy of art to wider audiences creating new experiences and memories.
"Airship Orchestra will be the centrepiece of Art Month, being developed across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, with the wonderful Arts by the Sea as the finale."
The month of art culminates with Arts by the Sea, BCP Council’s flagship free cultural festival, an exhilarating mix of theatre, dance, music, large-scale spectaculars and light & sound installations from 30 September – 2 October. Arts by the Sea’s twelfth year explores the theme of PLAY as festival goers shake off the seriousness of what has been and rediscover time and space to have fun. Each year Arts by the Sea packs Bournemouth’s public spaces with intriguing performances and installations from some of the best creative companies and this year will be no different.