and the

BRING YOU  ...LIMELIGHT

8th and 9th April

Snapshots from Limelight: Saturday night

Photo bulletin no 7: GABORONE

The first installation of Limelight: Saturday night for 2011 was also the first African venue. For two nights the people of Gaborone, Botswana, showed us how to be in the limelight.
We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Many thanks to the the British Council and the Maitisong Festival for bringing Limelight: Saturday night to Gaborone.

Limelight: Saturday night has been commissioned to mark the launch of ARTISPHERE, the new cultural centre in Arlington, Virginia.

Limelight: Saturday night replaces two conventional street light heads with outdoor theatre spotlights pointing to the same single spot, creating an open invitation for the passers-by to perform, transforming the street into a stage.

This intentionally subtle alteration of street lighting suggests on one hand the latent potential of public realm as places of interaction and celebration and on the other offers an alternative approach to city’s lighting as more than securitarian.

The theatre spotlight is a universally familiar symbol of performance, recognizable and appealing. By offering up this frame the street becomes a space for overt action and interaction by its diverse users. Limelight: Saturday night transforms a passing place into a stage, the passer-by becomes the actor and the spectator, public space becomes a place show casing the creativity and energy ever present in the city but rarely invited to be public: an action shifts from subconscious to conscious; a few dance steps become an instant spectacle; a few sung words becomes music; a kiss turns into a film scene.