NEWS RELEASE
Issued by: Visit York
Issue Date: 7 September 2010
Illuminating York Plans Revealed
Wed 27th – Sat 30th October 2010
From 7pm – 10pm
York Minster’s facade, it can be revealed today, will once again be lit up by night, as
organisers of York’s Illuminating York festival announce their exciting plans for October
2010. This will be the first use of the Minster as a canvas for a true “son et lumiere”, and will
be an evocative work on a stained glass masterpiece, saved for the nation during the Minster
fire of 1984.
Supported by the Arts Council England, City of York Council, Visit York and Welcome to
Yorkshire and now in its sixth year, the Illuminating York Festival is an outdoor lighting
festival using modern lighting and projection technologies to celebrate the city’s unique
architecture and history.
Visitors will be invited to experience cutting edge technology at its most beautiful with one
main lighting installation focusing on the Minster’s Rose Window and bathing the whole of
the South Transept in a colourful light spectacular.
Gillian Cruddas, Chief Executive of Visit York said, ‘Illuminating York is a fantastic opportunity
to showcase York’s innovative and creative edge, set against the backdrop of the city’s
stunning architecture. We’re delighted that this year the artists will be using imagery to
reflect the spirit of Yorkshire and it’s fitting that the Minster’s Rose window will be the focus
of this.’
This year’s main event returns to the Minster with a spectacular work forty metres tall,
featuring music, poetry and images focused on the 15th century Rose window and the South
Transept. Highly-acclaimed British projection artist Ross Ashton and sound artist Karen
Monid will present ‘Rose’, a specially commissioned artwork, which will transform the
Minster’s Rose window into a breathtaking vision of colour, light and shape. This continuous
ten minute evolving piece will light the iconic stained glass window from within and use the
surrounding architecture as a projection surface to explore the symbolism of the rose.
‘Rose’ will be created using high power slide projectors creating gigantic ‘magic lantern’
effects covering the entire end of the South Transept. Images from the collection of the
Minster and the museums of York will be montaged and restructured to fit exactly onto the
medieval architecture; the idea being to reinterpret the existing architecture with images
drawn from within the Minster archive.
Ross Ashton said, ‘From its deep rooted history as the emblem of Yorkshire to its
representation of mythology, love, marriage, religion and the beauty of the Virgin Mary, the
rose has many different meanings. Our artistic representation will look to re-discover these
meanings taking the viewer on an enchanting and creative journey.’
‘We wish to celebrate the Rose in all its aspects, as a symbol of Yorkshire, as a geometrical
shape and a focus for contemplation, as a symbol of perfection and purity and of course as a
symbol of perfect love.’
A full programme of fringe events is also planned; the area surrounding the Minster will
offer visitors a trail of art and light and several of the city’s visitor attractions will be hosting
evening events. Also part of the Illuminating York festival will be a Creative York Symposium
on Wed 27 October, organised by Science City York. Aimed at industry professionals this will
focus on digital and new technologies. Illuminating York is supported by Visit York, City of
York Council, The Arts Council England and Welcome to Yorkshire. To find out more about
Illuminating York visit www.illuminatingyork.org.uk or telephone Visit York Information
Centre Tel 09104 550099. ENDS
For further information please contact:
Kay Hyde – PR Manager – Visit York
Direct Line: 01904 554451
Mobile: 07961 828092
Email: kh@visityork.org
Katie Porter – PR Executive – Visit York
Direct Line: 01904 554436
Email: kp@visityork.org
Notes To The Editor
Visit York

Visit York is supported by Welcome to Yorkshire, City of York Council and tourism
businesses. Welcome to Yorkshire is charged with improving the Yorkshire and
Humber visitor economy.

Visit York’s aim is to market York as a must-see world-class destination to the leisure
and business visitor, and ensure investment to develop the quality of tourism in
York. Visit York is responsible for leisure and conference marketing, visitor services
(running the city’s Visitor Information Centre), training and developing the tourism
product.

Visit York is the driving force of the city’s tourism industry. Key facts:
7.1 million visitors (2008)
£443 million total visitor spend (2008)

Illuminating York is a cutting edge light based Festival which has been running
annually for the last five years. During that time the festival has commissioned major
international works for the Minster, Museum Gardens and other historic sites within
the city walls. Previously commissioned artists include Patrice Warrener, Paul Kaiser
(Open Ended Group), Usman Haque, Ross Ashton, KMA, OMA International, Gaia
Nova and Bright White Ltd. Since 2005, the Festival has attracted 100,000 visitors,
residents and tourists alike and brought over £10 million into the city.

Illuminating York is organized by a steering group which consists of representatives
from City of York council, York St John University, Visit York, York Museums Trust,
Science City York and local York businesses.

Accompanying the installation will be poetry and music, heard directly in front of the
South Transept, which allows the artwork to physically extend beyond the building
into the space in front, where the public will stand.

Ross Ashton created “Accendo” in the Museum Gardens two years ago for the
Illuminating York, projecting onto the Abbey of St Marys and the Yorkshire Museum,
using synchronised sound in zones related top each building. He also created
“Crown of Light” at Durham Cathedral in November last year. Individually both
artists have worked on “Odins Glow” at Roseberry Topping and “Enchanted Parks” in
Gateshead. The 2008 Illuminating York festival featured a range of artists including
Gaia Nova and their artwork ‘Walls of Light’ at the Multangular Tower.

Over fifty applications (from artists right across the UK) were submitted for
consideration as the central artwork for Illuminating York 2010. The chosen artists
Ross Ashton (49) and Karen Monid (39), were selected by an artistic steering group
which is made up of independent art industry professionals, local business people
and artistic members of the Illuminating York steering group.

Rose Window – a stained glass masterpiece: The stone work around the Rose
Window dates to 1240, but the glass took its present form around 1515. The central
motif is surrounded by 24 outer compartments which alternate between red roses
and Tudor roses to symbolise the union of the Houses of York and Lancaster in 1486
through the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. In 1984, lightning struck the
Minster and caused a serious fire in the South Transept roof. The heat from the fire
produced around 40,000 cracks in the 7,000 pieces of glass. The window was
removed and glaziers spent two and a half years repairing the damaged glass, before
restoring the window to its original position.