Light Night 2012
Liven up your Friday with an evening of offbeat and creative activities as Leeds’ annual Light Night returns on Friday 5 October. Find out what's happening across campus here.
By the Light of the Magic Lantern
Join the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery for an evening of beauty, education, Victorian nostalgia, humour and a spot of technical wizardry! Andrew Gill of the Magic Lantern Society will present a series of magic lantern performances throughout the evening which will take visitors back to the era of the magic lantern's heydey, when it was a dynamic tool for storytelling, sharing scientific knowledge and ideas.
At: Performances at 5.30pm, 7pm and 8.30pm
In: Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery
Booking is essential for this event which can be done online, by email or via telephone (0113) 343 2778.
History of Science show and tell
A unique public display of newly re-discovered Edwardian-era magic lanterns from the University's collections will be presented by Claire Jones, Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Leeds, using some of the thousands of magic lantern slides and related scientific objects also preserved in the collection.
At: 5-10pm
In: Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, Parkinson Building
This is a booking only event. Please book online.
Fly with Swallows, Run with Amazons
Visitors who have not booked a place or are just passing by will are invited to contribute to a collaborative illustration of a story, Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons, relating to the Gallery exhibition at that time, Austerity and Invention: Illustrators between the Wars. Visitors can draw on acetate in response to a short extract from a book - a character from the story, a part of the scenery, a prop. They are then invited to place these on overhead projectors that will project on to the walls outside the Gallery.
At: 5pm-10pm
In: Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery
This activity is suitable for ages 5+ and all abilities. No booking necessary.
Sounds from the 'well
Discover a different kind of musical performance, one where you are invited to share musical thought and ideas whilst they are being formed, accompanied by a previously created soundtrack. 'Sounds from the 'well' is part live performance, part site-specific sound installation, which will be placed in the foyer of stage@leeds. The performer however will be unseen except through a peep hole, giving the idea of a secret performance happening somewhere else for someone else.
At: 6pm-9.30pm
In: stage@leeds
The word became flesh
This year the Emmanuel Centre will be used as a space to explore words and bodies and how one leaves lasting impressions on the other. Various artists explore the theme with installations and exhibits using a range of media including print design, photography, sound and the spoken word. You are invited to join in and explore words and bodies in the centre's own interactive graffiti space.
At: 6.30pm-11pm
In: Universities Chaplaincy, Emmanuel Centre
Spectral collections
For one night only, the University library will showcase the weird, wonderful and the supernatural locked away in the depths of the Special Collections in the Brotherton Library. Dead of Night displays will show treasures from the library's rarely seen Occultism collection, the uncanny in manuscripts from Elizabeth Gaskell and Bram Stoker, supernatural photographs and much more. You will be able to feel history in your hands, with manuscripts, rare books and images of the ghostly and the bizarre spanning centuries. You will also have an access all areas pass for the evening, with behind the scene tours revealing a whole new side to the library's vast collections and the ghosts that have rattled the safe keys over the years.
At: 7pm-10pm
In: Brotherton Library
This event is most suitable for families with older children (10+).
Brafferton Arbor
In this dressing room performance, you will be taken back to the 1980s to witness the rise and fall of troubled playwright, Andrea Dunbar, who shot to fame at a young age with her work, 'Rita, Sue and Bob, Too'. Once described as a "genius of the slums", Dunbar's heart-wrenching youth and agonising journey into motherhood will be revealed.
At: Performances at 7pm, 8pm, 9pm and 10pm
In: Dressing room 2, stage@leeds
Ghost stories in the Brotherton Library
In the atmospheric surroundings of the oak-panelled Brotherton Room, experience the spine-tingling thrill of classic, dramatised ghost stories performed by a cast of Theatre and Performance students.
At: Performances at 7.15pm, 8.15pm and 9.15pm
In: Brotherton reading room, Parkinson Building
This event is enormously popular but the venue is small, so tickets must be booked online in advance.
Children must be 12+ only.
Music in the Brotherton
This is a rare chance to hear live music reverberating in the spectacular marble and oak round reading room of the Brotherton Library, performed by musicians from the Grammar School at Leeds.
At: Performances at 7.45pm and 8.45pm
In: Brotherton Library
The smell of envy
The Smell of Envy is a performance which will investigate the neuroscience of smell, memory and place, for those who love the smell of yesterday.
At: 8pm-9.15pm
In: Chemistry lecture theatre D, Chemistry West Block, Parkinson Building
This is a ticketed event. Bookings can be made online or via telephone on (0113) 343 8730
Late night folk
The University's School of Music brings you the celebrated virtuoso partnership of Marie Ni Chathasaigh, "the doyenne of Irish harpers", and Chris Newmen, "one of the UK's most staggering and influential acoustic guitarists". This will be a breathtaking blend of traditional Irish music, hot jazz, bluegrass and baroque, coupled with evocative songs and striking new compositions.
At: 9pm-10pm
In: Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, School of Music
This is a free event but tickets must be booked online in advance. Some tickets may be available at the door.
Classical stories Live in Leeds
The University's Department of Classics will be presenting its research off-campus and through the medium of story-telling and interactive performance, they will bring characters such as King Midas, Demeter, Dionysus and Justice to life in "the dead of the night".
At: 6pm-9.30pm
In: Ancient Worlds Gallery of Leeds City Museum
There's something for everyone and best of all it's completely free so come and join in the fun taking place across the University and around the City Centre.