Back this year as a firm favourite, and which gives visitors the chance to get creative and be part of the festival activity, the Circle of Hope is a light installation with hope for the future and community engagement at its heart. The installation references the stone circles found in the UK approximately 5,000 years ago. In addition to being solar and lunar observatories these amazing structures were thought to be places of worship, ceremony & healing as well as social gathering places.

The installation represents the hopes and dreams of the community who will have the opportunity at We Shine to decorate these perspex recycled hearts and hang them across the enchantingly lit Circle of Hope structures where the lights will reflect their messages of positivity and hope for the future.

Gather around the circle and enjoy the messages shared by the community.

Artist Bio:

Mick is renowned for creating large scale installations fusing light, material and structure to welcome audiences into extraordinary worlds of colour. His first art commission from Artichoke for Lumiere Durham 2011 allowed him to combine a wealth of design, build and technical experience learnt from years of work in the building and music industry with an artistic vision capable of beautifying waste with light.

An alliance with the international Charity Litre of Light in 2013 saw Mick showcase the artistic potential of the humble plastic bottle, then again in 2015 to recreate the iconic Rose Window in the Cathedral cloisters as a testament to his enduring ambition to master the material and light for Lumiere Durham.

Such demonstrations of creative flair and technical ability have allowed Mick to carve out a career as a full-time artist with standout work for Enchanted Parks, Kendal Calling, Sunderland illuminations, E-Luminate Cambridge, Lumiere London, Canary Wharf and Staithes Festival to name but a few. More recently Mick has been working on an installation highlighting the growing problem of plastic waste in the ocean.