MKIAC City of Codes & Light Festival 2023 Brochure

CITY OF CODES & LIGHT FESTIVAL

Bringing diverse communities together to celebrate art and learn about science and technology.

As Milton Keynes marked the conferring of city status last June by Her Late Majesty The Queen as part of her Platinum Jubilee, MKIAC were able to form a valuable partnership with Milton Keynes City Council and stage a fabulous City of Codes and Light Festival enjoyed by many thousands of people who paraded down Midsummer Boulevard and into the station concourse. Exhilarating music and light displays followed, and the city came alive with the shared celebrations.

MKIAC has now been afforded the position of an Arts Council (National) Portfolio Organisation, giving an opportunity to develop its initiatives even further. This year, the Festival theme is Learning. We all know that we should never cease to keep learning. There is so much going on in the world of which we are either ignorant or misinformed.

There are so many young people whose mental health has been adversely affected by the hardships of the pandemic. In commissioning the international artists from Spain, Maria Almera and Nestor Rubio, who will showcase the Relax & Release interactive

installation in the MKC Library, MKIAC are learning how to reach out to support young people through this crisis. Digital installations have been created, enabling reengagement with our physical bodies and wellness using digital technology to deliver art therapy.

Having suffered the hottest July on record last year, we know only too well how our young people, the future generations of our civilisation, are going to be impacted by climate change. Their passionate interest is the catalyst for us to address issues which are within our grasp.

Bringing diverse communities together to celebrate art, science, mathematics and technology, the Festival illuminates the creative brilliance and ingenuity involved in these fields while exploring the potential solutions of harnessing these for the health and well-being of humanity and the planet.

The Countess Howe Patron, MKIAC

INTRODUCTION

The City of Codes & Light Festival this year is a celebration of learning, centred around MKC Library and Bletchley Park, exploring history, art, science, maths and technology.

The Festival, organised by Milton Keynes Islamic Arts and Culture (MKIAC), brings together creative and inspirational workshops, educational symposiums and unforgettable performances. It celebrates contributions of culturally diverse artists, mathematicians and scientists throughout the ages, from the golden age of Muslim civilisation to Alan Turing’s Enigma codebreaking during WWII at Bletchley Park, which led directly to the technological advancements of the world we live in today.

The Festival will kick off with symposiums engaging young people at Bletchley Park and SCIoT on coding, representation in tech, the environment, technology and mental health.

MKC Library will be a hub of activity during the Festival, with science activities by awardwinning organisation 1001 Inventions and art therapy digital installations highlighting contributions to science and well-being. The spectacular Echoes from the Golden Era projection and illumination of MKC library on the 7th of October will begin the digital light parade, with huge luminous puppets and decorated lanterns forming a celebratory procession to Campbell Park. A festive finale with The Old Savoy Jazz Band, fusion ensemble Symphonica and Mr Switch and a laser light show will bring together the sounds of Jazz rhythm, a classical orchestra and the beats of the dancefloor, concluding the 2023 Festival celebrations.

Bringing diverse communities together in a celebration of art, science, maths and technology, the Festival illuminates the creative brilliance and ingenuity involved in art, science and technology while exploring the potential solutions of harnessing these for the health and well-being of humanity and the planet.

Experience the city in a new light with the Festival’s exciting line-up of events for 2023, celebrating and exploring our rich international heritage as a community together with bright possibilities for the future.

City of Codes & Light Festival Aims

• To create a sense of pride for historical and recent achievements in art, science, and technology with diverse communities and to understand the contributions of artists, mathematicians, scientists, and technologists from diverse communities that got us there.

• To include MK’s young people, BAME communities, LGBTQIA+ communities and differently-abled people in creating quality digital art.

• To improve confidence, skill levels and progression routes for the above groups in arts and technology.

• To highlight Milton Keynes as a key technology hub, playing its role in the SEMLAP Digital Arc region, and to develop opportunities for creative tourism in the city

• To develop MKIAC as a national leader in digital art connected to STEM.

“We’re delighted to again help the City of Codes and Light Festival take place. It’s a creative and innovative event that reflects the best of our city. The theme of digital learning is especially apt given that we’ll be welcoming world and tech business leaders to Milton Keynes for the international AI Safety Summit in November.”

Cllr Pete Marland Leader of Milton Keynes Council

START Milton Keynes Central Library centre:mk Shopping Centre

Events

FINISH 1 3 2 STOP WITH PERFORMANCE

Campbell Park

Plateau

DIGITAL LIGHT PARADE

Starting from the Echoes from the Golden Era projection and illumination of MKC Library, the 2023 City of Codes & Light Festival parade combines spectacular and ethereal luminous puppets that interact with the crowd with a dazzling lantern parade co-created by local residents.

The parade will kick off at MKC Library at 7.45pm, meeting the mesmerising Sélénites puppets on their way towards Campbell Park in a magical procession, with the giant thirtyfoot puppet Céleste also joining in with the festivities en route.

The lantern parade, created by local residents in recent lantern-making workshops led by Route Canal Arts, will illuminate the streets in a joyous procession, celebrating diversity through floral and ocean-themed Mughalinspired designs, highlighting the issue of the environment and climate change. Arriving at Campbell Park for the laser and music show finale, the unforgettable evening will be topped off with outstanding performances from The Old Savoy Jazz Band and Symphonica & Mr Switch, the fusion ensemble bringing together the sounds of a classical orchestra with the live remixing of a DJ with their own spin on classic dance music tracks.

uMKC Library

Projection and illumination of MKC Library

7:30pm. Start of the parade at 7:45pm from MKC Library

v Market Square

A gathering of the Sélénites puppets by street theatre company Inko’Nito with music

w Campbell Park

The end point of the parade with music and laser show.

EVENT SCHEDULE

Launch of City of Codes & Light Festival

4th October | 6pm–8:30pm |

Bletchley Park, Sherwood Drive, Milton Keynes

MK3 6EB

Launch of City of Codes & Light Festival at Bletchley Park with Deputy Mayoress Cllr

Marie Bradburn. Guest arrival at 6pm for the symposium on Coding through Innovation Technology. Speakers will include Charlene Hunter, Founder and CEO of Coding Black Females, Dr. Oliver Mag Gingrich, Director at Art in Flux, and Dr. Brigitte Stenhouse from the Open University, with Paul Thomson from SEMLEP as Moderator.

Bletchley Park has played an important role in the history of the development of computer science and was the site of the

WWII Enigma codebreaking. It will be hosting an international AI Safety Summit in early November to explore the transformative opportunities, benefits and risks involved in the use of artificial intelligence and what measures should be taken at the international level to ensure its responsible and safe development.

Environment, Technology and Mental Health Symposium at SCIoT

5th October | 10am–12:30pm |

South Central Institute of Technology, Sherwood Drive, Milton Keynes, MK3 6DR

Schools visit for a symposium on the Environment, Technology and Mental Health. Speakers will include Jenny Worby from MK College, two head girls from the schools, and Simon Fitzgerald from Horiba, with Paul Thomson from SEMLEP as Moderator.

Climate change is not just an environmental issue, it is also an issue of mental wellbeing. Joined-up thinking is required to make sure the link between environment, health and wellbeing is tackled together with scientists, policymakers, and mental health practitioners. Arts and culture professionals also have an important role to play, engaging people in this

global issue, helping to bring tough issues to the table and facilitating conversations. This discussion brings together science communicators, artists, students, and mental health professionals to understand the collective importance of the environment for our mental health as well as tangible ways to support our own wellbeing and those around us.

1001 Inventions: STEM Activities in the Library

4th–7th October | 10am–6pm | Milton Keynes

Central Library, 555 Silbury Blvd, MK9 3HL

1001 Inventions: Journeys from Alchemy to Chemistry sessions will take place at MK Library for the first time as part of the City of Codes & Light Festival. Through interactive activities and experiential learning, basic principles of chemistry will be introduced in a creative and inspiring way. Sessions will highlight aspects of science, history and culture, carrying a positive message of diversity to unite and inspire children. Read more about these exciting hands-on activities in the 1001 Inventions: Journeys from Alchemy to Chemistry feature. Sessions will be offered free-of-charge for children aged 7–11 (Key Stage 2) with their

teachers (school groups) or parents (homeschooled groups) from 4th to 7th October 2023.

Book your free session: www.1001inventions.com/mk2023

City of Codes & Light Festival Celebration

7th October | 6pm–9:45pm | Milton Keynes Central Library, 555 Silbury Blvd, MK9 3HL

Arrival at 6pm with hospitality at the Library. Speeches start at 6:40pm and at 7:30pm guests will be invited to see the Echoes from the Golden Era illumination of the Library by Limbic Cinema. This will be followed at 7:45pm by the magical digital lantern parade making its way to Campbell Park with mesmerising luminous giant puppets by Inko-Nito for the laser and music show finale there, concluding at 9:45pm.

RELAX & RELEASE BY KIMATICA

Kimatica Studio is a London-based creative studio exploring the intersection between the human body, live performance and interactive technology. Their creations are a radical interplay of light, motion and emotion, overlapping physical and virtual layers to create rich, new augmented realities. They have been supported by the National Gallery, the Tate Museum and the Arts Council of England and have taken part in international light festivals in Barcelona, Jerusalem, Manchester and London.

Kimatica debuts a pioneering co-creation model, culminating in a piece of original digital

artwork for the City of Codes & Light Festival 2023. The project features an interactive digital installation, two co-creation workshops, and a final collaborative piece of digital artwork featuring their most popular interactive installation, Relax & Release. An original commission by Tate Britain, Relax & Release orchestrates a dynamic interplay between visuals and human movement, fostering play, movement, and social connection to rekindle audiences’ corporeal relationship post-pandemic. Drawing from psychological research attesting to the therapeutic influence of art on mental health, the installation offers a novel approach to art therapy.

Kimatica forges a fresh co-creation paradigm, guiding college students to craft interactive visual effects via coding. These effects are subsequently harnessed by performing arts students through dance. The outcome births an array of unique pieces of digital artwork shaped by both college and school pupils using Kimatica’s creative process. The workshops aim to empower emerging talents with an introduction to media arts and interactive technologies, dismantling barriers for minority groups entering the tech realm.

Kimatica’s commitment to democratising technology is evident in open-source software and educational workshops, catalysing the flow of their specialised expertise to future generations.

www.kimatica.net

@kimaticastudio

1001 INVENTIONS: JOURNEYS FROM ALCHEMY TO CHEMISTRY

1001 Inventions: Journeys from Alchemy to Chemistry educational sessions will be organised at MK Library for the first time as part of the City of Codes & Light Festival. Through interactive activities, experiential learning will stir children’s excitement about science and introduce the basic principles of chemistry. Highlighting discoveries from the past, sessions will also link themes of science, history and culture, showing their relevance to daily life and carrying a positive message of diversity to unite and inspire children.

Sessions will feature activities, including a short animated video that creatively introduces children to fascinating journeys from alchemy to chemistry across the ages. Participants will meet remarkable pioneers from different backgrounds and cultures and learn in particular about the outstanding work of Jabir ibn Hayyan in the 8th century. The stories will then come to life through exciting hands-on activities exploring different chemistry themes and applications.

Following in the footsteps of Jabir ibn Hayyan, better known in the West as Geber, participants will have the opportunity to learn how he developed and perfected

the principles of sublimation, liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, amalgamation, oxidation, evaporation and filtration. Through his story and those of scientists from different cultures and civilisations, students will discover how the legacy of these scientific discoveries continues to impact their everyday lives.

Activities led by a creative team of science explainers will include making perfumes and soaps using recipes from the golden age of Arabic Science. Sessions will also include making goo to illustrate how matter changes states from solid to liquid and gas and the

elephant toothpaste demonstration to dazzle children with a bit of mystery and introduce them to chemical reactions. Experiential learning sparks children’s interest in science, introducing basic chemistry principles and raising awareness about its application and importance in daily life.

Sessions will be offered free of charge for children aged 7–11 (Key Stage 2) with their teachers (school groups) or parents (homeschooled groups) from 4th to 7th October 2023.

1001 Inventions creates international campaigns and educational initiatives aiming to spark young people’s interest in science.

1001 Inventions believes in the power of culture and storytelling to encourage innovation and promote diversity and inclusion. As such, the organisation produces themed transmedia productions, including interactive exhibits, short films, live shows and books, uncovering fascinating contributions of lesser-known pioneers from Arab, Asian and other Eastern cultures.

1001 Inventions has engaged with over 450 million people across the globe through effective grassroots outreach as well as working with a network of international partners and leading academics. Book your free session: www.1001inventions.com/mk2023

ARTISTS

Symphonica & Mr Switch

Symphonica is a fresh & brand new project which fuses two different worlds: the raw power & soul of the orchestra and the heavy bass & beats of the DJ!

Over an hour, expect to hear a mixture of brand new compositions - which pit string sections against scratch skills, double bass against synth bass - and some classic tracks, played as you’ve never heard them before - by a whole orchestra!

You couldn’t just have any DJ at the head of this project. It had to be Mr Switch - the reigning DMC World DJ Champion. Having already cut his teeth alongside orchestrasas the first DJ in history to play in a classical concert at the BBC Proms - this time, alongside composer Miles Hancock, Mr Switch employs his expert knowledge of turntablist trickery and dancefloor destroying beats to remix the orchestra live, giving a foot-friendly twist to classical sounds. The possibilities are endless!

After premiering at Boomtown Festival in 2015, Symphonica & Mr Switch have toured venues and festivals across the UK, including Glastonbury Festival, Village Underground,

Shambala Festival, NEC Arena and Victorious Festival. The band have also headlined festivals like London Remixed Festival and The Great Estate, sharing stages with fellow party-starters like Krafty Kuts, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Sam Divine, Shlomo, Hackney Colliery Band and Dutty Moonshine along the way. In 2016, Symphonica & Mr Switch were nominated for ‘Live Act Of The Year’ at the AIF Festival Congress Awards, alongside Jack Garrett and Blossoms.

The Old Savoy Jazz Band

The Old Savoy Jazz Band are the resident band of The Old Savoy Theatre, playing Jazz and Big Band numbers with modern pieces in the mix! An ideal party or event band, guaranteed to bring a smile and get your feet tapping. From Glenn Miller to Herbie Hancock to Stevie Wonder, the band loves to play the numbers that get you moving.

Inko’Nito

Inko’Nito is a street theatre company established in 1996 that creates shows with giant, ethereal and characterful puppets. They have participated in many performances internationally, from small events to prestigious festivals.

At the 2023 MKIAC Festival digital light parade on the 7th of October, Inko’Nito will introduce their luminous puppets, Céleste & the Sélenites, for a magical procession from MKC Library to Campbell Park. The five Sélenities will accompany the parade from the Library, interacting with the crowd and adding an illuminating, reflective and emotive atmosphere to the festivities with their gentle, glowing nine-foot presence.

Joining the parade along the way, the thirtyfoot-high Céleste puppet will appear en route to Campbell Park to join the celebrations. Accompanied by an original soundtrack created by French composer Julien Morant, Céleste will illuminate our faces, dancing with the air currents.

Limbic Cinema

Echoes from the Golden Era is a captivating projection artwork created by Limbic Cinema that pays homage to the remarkable contributions of a golden era of science and learning. Inspired by the renowned book 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilisation, Echoes from the Golden Era explores knowledge, art, and science through an artistic lens that bridges the gap between centuries, transforming the Milton Keynes Library into a living canvas of vibrant animations and evocative imagery. Music and poetry will complement the visuals for a truly immersive spectacle.

Poetry written and performed by Noah Jacob.

Limbic Cinema is an award-winning multimedia creative studio based in Bristol, utilising cutting-edge tools and immersive technology to transform space and transport audiences. The studio creates mesmerising, meaningful, and memorable encounters that empower people through light, sound, and moving images.

Recent work by Limbic Cinema has been featured at the Video Mapping Festival, Lille (2023), Glastonbury Festival (2023), Edinburgh Fringe (2023), Sundance Film Festival (2021) and Vivid Sydney (2021).

Definitive

A long-established team runs Definitive Special Projects Ltd. with many years of experience in the laser light show industry and relevant qualifications specific to lasers and optics. They specialise in providing creative, original and bespoke laser shows. Using a combination of single and multi-coloured lasers, customised control equipment and special effect enhancements, Definitive can provide an event with an exciting and original dimension indoors or out.

Definitive has provided laser support for many different styles of shows, from concerts such as Hawkwind, The Ministry of Sound Classical

show and Classical Spectacular to large outdoor temporary installations, including projecting a laser over the town of Pitlochry, Scotland. They have also provided stand-alone laser shows for private parties and events and long-running support for Christmas trail installations nationwide. Definitive is also proud to have been involved in the original We Will Rock You theatre production and its recent revival.

For the Milton Keynes City of Codes & Light Festival, Definitive are proud to support Symphonica & Mr Switch by adding lasers to the already impressive show.

Simon Tipping - Route Canal Arts

Carnival Artist Simon Tipping has been working with secondary schools and community groups from Milton Keynes to make lanterns for this year’s City of Codes & Light Festival parade on Saturday 7th, October. Young people and adults participating in the parade have been involved in lanternmaking workshops throughout September and October. The lanterns, made using traditional methods and materials such as willow, tissue paper, lighting systems and glue, are based on the theme of the environment and climate change and are derived from Mughal designs, with shapes inspired by shells and flowers.

Simon Tipping is the Director and co-founder of Route Canal Arts, which creates and designs giant puppets, processional sculptures, costumes, masks, Mas Bands, street events, parades and community projects. Simon established himself in Milton Keynes in 1985 as a freelance practitioner. He was a member of the Silbury Group Artists (1992–2008), a collaborative group of nationally known artists based at Westbury Farm Studios, Shenley Wood. He is also the co-founder of Festive Road and established the Milton Keynes ‘Walking with Giants’ parade, which took place from 2012 to 2015. Internationally, Simon has participated in Carnivals in Rio de Janeiro and Trinidad and events for London 2012 and the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Simon has a wealth of experience engaging the young and the old in creative learning, making art accessible and participatory. He believes in delivering high-quality art projects using creative thinking, science, traditions from around the world, and street art, using sustainable and recycled resources to engage and inspire.

Maryam Smit

Maryam Smit is an experienced traditional artist based in Milton Keynes. Dedicated to the revival of historical crafts from the Islamic world, Maryam works with various materials, including ceramics, natural pigments, and textiles inspired by centuries of historical Islamic geometry and patterns. Maryam was born and educated in Holland, where she studied fashion design and business. Maryam later attended the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, where her passion for Islamic art blossomed and she received her degree.

“There, I was exposed to a new way of viewing and creating ‘art’. I became completely obsessed with what I learned and, in turn, developed a deep respect for the principles of traditional arts. I focus predominantly on depicting the hidden meanings in Islamic art through symbolism in patterns and colours, and I combine traditional techniques and concepts to create pieces with a slightly modern feel.”

Maryam’s passion for sharing the beauty of Islamic geometric art has led to her work with MKIAC. Here, Maryam is the resident artist, developing new areas of design and expression through art. Maryam also leads the MKIAC outreach programme, including schools, and her work has been exhibited within Buckinghamshire.

Sharmina Haq

In collaboration with MKIAC, Sharmina Haq led Mughal Floral workshops in August in Milton Keynes at Kiln Farm Gurdwara, where participants learned to paint their own Mughal flower.

Sharmina Haq is an experienced visual artist and educator specialising in geometric and arabesque art from the Islamic world, including Mughal floral art. She has led workshops since 2018 in Islamic geometric patterns and Islamic and Mughal floral illumination with Ardington School of Arts (Oxford), Henley Arts Guild (Henley), Sacred Art of Geometry (Sussex) and independently in London, the north of England and online.

Alongside her art, Sharmina Haq is a keen advocate for reviving traditional Islamic and Indian arts and methods. She has undertaken Islamic art studies in Granada, Istanbul, Morocco and Malaysia and has taken workshops at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London, Istanbul Design Centre and online with masters in Istanbul. She has exhibited her art at the Aga Khan Centre, London; Apna Rossendale, Haslingden; Istanbul Design Centre, Istanbul; and Jaipur, India.

Festival parade on the 7th of October are based around the theme of the environment and climate change. The lanterns have been made in lantern-making workshops held in September and October, led by Carnival Artist Simon Tipping and inspired by Mughal artwork.

The lanterns made by secondary school students and community groups from Milton Keynes for the 2023 City of Codes & Light

ABOUT MKIAC & NPO

On the international level, MKIAC has taken part in the Al Burda Festival in Dubai, discussing the ripple effect of trailblazing cultural entities and contributing to the discussion Host Cities: The Ripple Effect.

The Al Burda Festival was launched in 2018 by the UAE Ministry of Culture & Youth as a platform for engaging in cutting-edge dialogues around the present and future of Islamic arts and culture.

Milton Keynes Islamic Arts and Culture

(MKIAC) was started in 2002, in a post 9/11 environment in Milton Keynes, by Anouar Kassim MBE. Nationally and in the Buckinghamshire area, there needed to be a focus on the depth and richness of Islamic arts and culture. MKIAC was established to promote community engagement through Islamic arts, heritage, and culture. Opening a dialogue between communities was vital to understanding shared common values. In 2022, they celebrated their 20th anniversary.

In the UK, MKIAC has worked with thousands of students to diversify their art curriculums, launched Art in the Park, showcasing the best diverse music, art and food, and worked with community members to overcome isolation and develop cohesion. Support from the MK Community Foundation enabled the launch of MKIAC, and they have also received support from the Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, amongst others.

In 2021–2022, MKIAC was honoured to have been chosen as the Charity of the Year for Milton Keynes Council by the Mayor, Cllr Mohammad Khan. The charity was also awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2018, another highlight

as the organisation has been built on the strength and service of our volunteers and ambassadors from Milton Keynes and the UK.

We are delighted to be on the Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation Investment programme this year. Through our NPO commissions, we are strengthening partnerships and planning new projects, building on the success of previous commissions. We will continue collaborating with other NPOs in 2022/23 and develop new partnerships and community programmes.

“Art has the opportunity to bring this important conversation to new audiences and to make people think about the issue in new ways. We can change climate change… our digital interactive artworks invite people to learn more about technology, simulate environmental change and participate in building a better future for our future generations.”

Anouar Kassim MBE Director and CEO of MKIAC

LIBRARIES AND LEARNING

From the cradle of civilisation and the huge seventh-century BCE library of catalogued cuneiform tablets in Nineveh, patronised by Assyrian King Ashurbanipal, and from the administrative archives of Persepolis, the story of libraries through history is deeply intertwined with that of the recording, spread and exchange of knowledge. Around the scrolls, gardens and reading rooms of the Library of Alexandria in Egypt in the second century BCE, an intellectual hub for the knowledge and learning of the Ancient Greeks grew up, with these traditions of librarianship in the ancient world burgeoning once again from the eighth-century CE in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.

It is said that the Caliph Al-Ma’mun (d. 833) paid translators the weight in gold of the books they translated, with a high value attached to learning and knowledge in the Islamic Golden Age at the House of Wisdom.

Beyond the extensive lands of the Muslim world, with their rich and varied cultural and intellectual legacies, diplomats

were sent on missions to surrounding rulers to acquire or make copies of valuable manuscripts. Knowledge and wisdom from the world’s great civilisations were brought together, translating manuscripts from Greek, Sanskrit, Persian, Aramaic and other languages. This cultural and intellectual fusion, bringing about a synergy of the wisdom and knowledge of diverse peoples and lands, resulted in an atmosphere of intellectual curiosity and discovery, catalysing medical, mathematical and scientific breakthroughs

that had a profound effect not just in the Muslim world but globally.

From the comparison and development of the Indian and Babylonian counting systems to the adoption of the decimal system and the first algebraic equations, the mathematical geniuses of the Islamic Golden Age changed the course of history, making paradigmshifting breakthroughs that form the basis of modern-day mathematics, coding and computing.

The work of scholars such as al-Khawarizmi, the “father of algebra”, and al-Kindi, who began work on cryptoanalysis, made an indelible mark on the intellectual landscape that has helped shape the thought and academic disciplines of the world we live in today. The advances these medieval polymaths made were built upon to develop more advanced codebreaking, such as the Enigma codebreaking at Bletchley Park in WWII, and contributed to the birth of computer science.

Today, a network of public and academic libraries is spread worldwide, while rare books and manuscripts that once existed only in specific locations and which scholars might have to travel vast distances to access can now often be accessed through an online search from a mobile phone. Knowledge has become much more accessible, while advancements in technology and AI raise questions about the future of the use and organisation of knowledge and information and the possible challenges and solutions these may offer us in exploring the frontiers of art therapy, science and tech.

MKC Library will be at the centre of the festivities this year, the Echoes from the Golden Era projection by Limbic Cinema illuminating the library at the start of the digital light parade. Relax & Release digital artwork installations by Kimatica and Journeys from Alchemy to Chemistry workshops by 1001 Inventions will also be located at the library.

MKIAC FESTIVAL AND THE VISUAL ARTS

Exploration of mathematical geometry in the visual arts in the Islamic world has produced architectural and ornamental works of astounding beauty with meditative and therapeutic effects for the beholder. Geometric and arabesque patterns and calligraphic arts were developed by master geometers, artisans, calligraphers and architects who shared a passion for harmony and proportion explored by the polymaths of the Islamic Golden Age.

MKIAC Festival 2023 celebrates the role of the visual arts through history and in the present

day, bringing together the traditional Islamic arts and digital artwork workshops, festive light installations and a digital light parade and concert. These creative arts celebrate diversity, ingenuity and human potential, bringing attention to pressing issues such as climate change and the environment and exploring art therapy to enhance mental health and wellbeing. This year’s Relax & Release workshops by Kimatica highlight the therapeutic value of art and creativity, encouraging young people to connect through movement and social connection to co-create original pieces of digital artwork.

Art workshops in the run-up to the Festival have included Mughal art sessions by Sharmina Haq, using natural dyes and with meditative reflections on the vegetal world and our relationship with plants, and lanternmaking workshops based on these designs by Simon Tipping, highlighting climate change and the environment. The lanterns made

in these workshops form part of the festive lantern parade in the event on 7th October, starting with the Echoes from the Golden Era illumination and projection of MKC Library. Spectacular luminous floating puppets by street theatre company Inko’Nito will make their way together with the lantern parade to Campbell Park, where a concert and laser show will top off the festivities.

media partner

MKFM is delighted to be working with MKIAC on their 4th festival. MKFM is the local radio station for Milton Keynes, owned and run by a dedicated team of people who live and breathe the city. As well as providing local content on-air, MKFM also has the most significant social media presence in Milton Keynes, with a website home to everything local people need to know. Through our partnership with MKIAC, MKFM can unite the community to support the event not just this year but hopefully for many years. MKFM supports and helps businesses, charities and not-for-profit organisations from all backgrounds who share our local values and can’t wait to be a part of the City of Codes and Light Festival 2023!

MKIAC would like to thank the MKIAC team and ambassadors, the MKIAC Board for the support of this project and PR Plus 1 Comms team.

Project delivery: MKIAC

Artists: Symphonica & Mr Switch, The Old Savoy Jazz Band, Inko-Nito, Limbic Cinema, Noah Jacob, Definitive, Route Canal Arts, Sharmina Haq, Maryam Smit, 1001 Inventions, and Kimatica.