Simon’s shining light on festival
THE BIENNIAL Barnaby Festival will return in 2020 and a spectacular art project that will feature has already begun.
The festival runs from June 18 to June 28 in Macclesfield with the first weekend called First Light and exploring the summer solstice, which falls on June 21.
As part of this, artist and photographer Simon Buckley has been commissioned to create the Our Future is Ancient project.
He is known for taking pictures in the half light of dawn and dusk - something he will begin this week to coincide with the winter solstice.
It will largely take place in Macclesfield Forest, where Simon will capture images on the dawn of every full moon between now and June.
These will be turned into an installation for the Barnaby Festival. Simon has already been to the town centre of Macclesfield to do a similar thing for last month’s LIT literature festival.
He said: “The summer solstice will be during Barnaby’s first weekend and my work will capture the changes leading up to it. The light will evolve between now and the summer solstice, moving from the pale, ethereal colours of December, January and February through to the richer shades of spring and summer.
“The light at dawn is magical, it’s the basis for so many fairy stories, and so I will be exploring the connections we urban people still have with the natural world.
“Despite being surrounded by the symbols of the modern age, we are still very much governed by nature.”
The exact nature of the installation for the Barnaby Festival has yet to be decided and Simon will give a performance on the day of the summer solstice.
He added: “Our Future is Ancient is an exploration of Macclesfield Forest.
“I’m from the city and yet when I go up into Macclesfield Forest in the dark, I’m more afraid there than I am in Salford. It’s a strange feeling, almost primeval.”
Abi Gilmore, co-chair of Barnaby Festival, said: “We’re delighted to have Simon creating this work for us. It is such an exciting interpretation of our theme of vision.
”The latest from Simon’s project and the Barnaby Festival can be seen on Twitter @notquitelight and @barnabyfestival.