SPECTRA 2017 has opened in a blaze of colour and creativity.
30 installations across five stunning sites in the city entertained and amazed the 7,500 crowd across five sites to the opening evening of the four-day festival, nearly double the 3898 that took in the 2016 opening evening of the festival.
BAFTA award-winning artist Seb Lee-Delisle’s Laser Light Synths wowed the crowds at Marischal College; while at St Nicholas Kirk visitors had the beautiful and hypnotic Pentatono by Yiannis Kranidiotis and Felix’s Machines by Felix Thorn inside the church while Elektromistel by Tobias Daemgen and Les Ariagnees by Groupe LAPS stunned in the kirkyard.
St. Nicholas Roof Top Garden welcomed the introduction of the True North Music Stage promoting home-grown talent, while Jim Buckley’s Rajio Taiso encouraged people to warm up the winters night through traditional Japanese calisthenics, and STACK Collective allowed visitors to become part of SPECTRA by contributing their evolving installation.
Union Terrace Garden was the site for eagerly anticipated installation Cloud by Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett, alongside Wave Garden by Paul Friedlander, Forget Me not by Aberdeen Performing Arts Artist in Residence Sara Stroud, and the incredible Hot Heads by Pa-BOOM.
Bold beams of light shone out from the Archway at Robert Gordon’s College with internationally acclaimed artist Sandy McRobbie’s The Gateway, while at art space Seventeen on Belmont Street Jenny Dockett’s Illuminating Geometry displayed works from local school children that had been created as part of the Illuminating Geometry workshop series.
Secret Cities photography exhibition can also be found at Seventeen, open daily from 10am -9.30pm.
Aberdeen City Council Deputy Leader Councillor Marie Boulton said: “The opening evening of SPECTRA 2017 has been tremendous. Each of the five sites has been packed with families and friends enjoying the installations, and new addition of the True North Music Stage at the St Nicholas Centre Rooftop Garden has been very well received.
“Each installation is so unique and it is such a thrill to see these installations by internationally renowned artists here in Aberdeen. Year-on-year SPECTRA just gets bigger and better than ever.”
SPECTRA, supported through Aberdeen City Council’s Culture Programme, the Council ongoing commitment to recognise the city’s cultural aspirations to deliver a major step change in perception, opportunities and legacy, is the first major festival in the national celebration programme for the 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, which explores Scotland’s intriguing history, impressive cultural heritage and fascinating archaeology at exciting experiences and events.
SPECTRA runs until Sunday February 12 2017, with five festival sites in the City – Marischal College, St Nicholas Kirkyard, St Nicholas Roof Top Garden, Seventeen on Belmont Street and Union Terrace Gardens.
More information can be found at: www.spectraaberdeen.com