River of Light 2024 installations come out to play

River of Light has returned to the Liverpool waterfront for 2024 with 12 playful artworks to explore – and here is what you can see and where to find them.

The free, 12-day family-friendly trail with the theme Play runs until November 5, taking visitors young and old on a 1.2-mile (2km) route along the city’s waterfront and around the business district.

While some of the works, which include giant see-saws, huge piano keys, bicycle-powered illuminations and a giant ‘one armed bandit’, will help turn the city into a playground, organiser Culture Liverpool says others offer a deeper question around play and what it can mean for individuals, communities and the city as a whole.

Three of the 12 installations can be found on the Royal Albert Dock.

Taiwan’s UxU Studio’s Illusion Hole (above), inspired by the dynamic movement of light, has been designed to challenge our understanding of reality by exploring the boundaries between truth and illusion.

Positive Spin is an 18ft (5.5m) high machine from the collective minds of illustrator Liz Harry and artistic experience creators Invisible Wind Factory - visitors are invited to step up and receive a random fortune. Part immersive experience and part spectacle, it has been inspired by a love of summers spent at sea front arcades.

And Lightbattle III celebrates the joy of cycling as participants can hop-on and pedal as fast as they can in a race to intensify the colours around them. It’s the brainchild of Dutch creatives VENIVIDMULTIPLEX.

Other installations on the Liverpool waterfront include two at Mann Island – Bubblesque and Rangoli Mirrored Cosmos.

Bubblesque, in the Mann Island Basin, sees Australian artists Atelier Sisu return to River of Light with giant bubbles floating on water and overflowing onto the land. When the land bubbles are touched, they dance with colour accompanied by a joyful and ambient soundscape. 

Meanwhile Mann Island Atrium is home to British-Sri Lankan artist MURUGIAH’s Rangoli Mirrored Cosmos, a six-and-a-half foot (2m) high 3D sculpture celebrating Diwali’s Festival of Light and featuring bright patterns, traditionally painted in the entrance of homes to welcome the Hindu goddess, Lakshmi. It signifies luck, positivity and happiness.

Culture Liverpool is also working with Liverpool-based Indian arts and culture organisation Milap to programme activity which will take place near to the Rangoli Mirrored Cosmos installation to mark Diwali on November 1.

Three more works are sited on the waterfront.

Impulse comprises 15 interactive seesaws which turn the Pier Head into a playground. They are the brainchild of French-Canadian artists Lateral Office & CS Design - a production of Quartier des Spectacles Partnership and distributed by QDSinternational.

Piano Walk, designed by critically acclaimed Australian artists Amigo & Amigo, working with local composer John McHugh, sees a huge winding floor piano located at the Pier Head where visitors are encouraged to jump on its 40 interactive keys and hammers and compose a unique, collaborative music score.

And Laps, on The Strand near Salthouse Dock, is the brainchild of Quebec artist Oliver Landreville, who has created a series of giant egg timers where people can take control of time by turning a steering wheel.

Meanwhile four further installations can be found in the city centre.

Hungarian artists Koros Design Studio are behind an oversized inflatable Bunch of Tulips which is by the pools on William Huskisson Way at Liverpool ONE.

Derby Square is the home of Amigo & Amigo’s No Place Like Gnome, which invites visitors on a whimsical journey, where each gnome transforms into a charming companion for a photographic exploration of iconic landmarks and hidden treasures.

The same design team is behind Checkmate in Exchange Flags, a 52ft x 52ft (16m x 16m) square chessboard designed to make visitors feel as though they have shrunk amongst the enormous inflatable chess pieces. The work is accompanied an original score by Otis Studio.

And head to Liverpool Parish Church for Netherlands-based Studio Toer’s mesmerising installation Firefly Field which simulates the movements of fireflies and has a soundtrack inspired by the natural habitat.

The River of Light illuminated trail was first staged in March 2021 to mark the first anniversary of the Covid lockdown, and then again in October 2021 and each subsequent October.

Last autumn’s event attracted an estimated 140,000 people across its 10-day run, generating £6.5million for the local economy, and a survey of visitors recorded that for 41 percent of those asked it was their first time attending and taking part in a cultural event.

River of Light runs until November 5, from 5pm to 9pm each evening. More details HERE