After a decade behind closed doors, Durham’s former DLI Museum and Art Gallery has been transformed into The Light, and it is far more than a simple renovation.
Almost doubled in size, the building now stretches between its original 1960s architecture and striking new gallery spaces, surrounded by woodland that feels further from the nearby city centre than it actually is.
The opening exhibition, ‘Victory Over the Sun: Encounters with Light’, brings together 25 regional, national and international artists, including Tracey Emin, Dan Flavin and Chila Burman. It layers light with art, science and emotion, with works ranging from the interactive and playful to the unexpectedly poignant.
Downstairs, the permanent exhibition ‘We Are The Durhams’ takes an equally thoughtful approach to the Durham Light Infantry. Rather than simply charting military history, it uncovers the people behind it: actors, sportsmen, families and communities, alongside experiences and memories of conflict. A First World War Somme memorial cross provides one particularly powerful moment.
Two seemingly contrasting exhibitions, brought together beneath one beautifully unveiled building, create a genuinely exciting new cultural destination for the North East.
