CITY OF CODES & LIGHT FESTIVAL
Bringing diverse communities together to celebrate art, science, technology and Milton Keynes’ new city status.
In response to the extraordinary success of last year’s digital light parade MKIAC have once again created spectacular entertainment for us. They have teamed up with the Council to celebrate the conferring of city status on Milton Keynes. And what a way to celebrate, with all our diverse communities brought together by a shared interest in, and love of, the arts in their widest sense.
Since the easing of pandemic restrictions, MKIAC are keen to highlight the difficulties which the planet is facing through climate change. They want to shine a light on the way each and every one of us can help to mitigate the effects of climate change by making small adaptations to our way of life. The environment is threatened like never before, and it is down to us to lead the charge. We cannot compromise the future for our young people further.
For many, the hardships of the pandemic have meant that individuals’ mental health has suffered. We need to encourage and support young and old through their struggles and
help them to develop the resilience needed to face the future. One of the proven ways of offering this support is to use art to help build bridges and to give a sense of purpose, working collaboratively towards achieving more cohesive communities.
I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to the City of Milton Keynes and to wish them a thriving and successful future, and to thank MKIAC for giving us this wonderful celebration.
INTRODUCTION
Bringing diverse communities together to celebrate art, science, maths, technology and Milton Keynes’ new city status.
The City of Codes & Light Festival, 2022 organised by Milton Keynes Islamic Arts and Culture (MKIAC) brings together thousands of people who come to enjoy a week of celebrations packed with original exhibits, performances and parades.
The City Council will also mark Milton Keynes becoming The City of Milton Keynes with a fantastic celebratory public event on Saturday 8th October. All are welcome to join the live music and performances on stage at Station Square, a ‘digital light parade’ down Midsummer Boulevard and a large-scale creative projection at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone. The City Council is partnering with MKIAC on the Festival’s finale to make it a celebration to remember.
Limbic Cinema’s Radiance, a large-scale projectionmapped artwork at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone, Milton Keynes.
The festival brings diverse communities together to celebrate art, science, maths, and technology as well as Milton Keynes’ new city status. Supported by the city’s institutions, the festival draws from the beauty and ingenuity of Islamic art, science and technology to formulate an unforgettably unique experience. Immerse yourself in stories told with light, sound and theatre in the heart of the city. See Bletchley Park, Church of Christ the Cornerstone and MK Station Square in a new light with special events from award-winning visual projection companies.
Celebrate with us as one community at this incredible free event for all. For more information and the full festival schedule, visit: www.mkiac.org
City of Codes & Light Festival Aims
• A celebration of MK’s new city status for all communities in Milton Keynes, to create a sense of belonging.
• 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.
“In our bid for city status presented to Queen Elizabeth II, we described Milton Keynes as a ‘mosaic of communities united by a love of where we live’. This spectacular parade and light show will be an opportunity for everyone to unite in celebration of our becoming a city, and to enjoy a brilliant evening of free music and entertainment. The MKIAC have staged fantastic events in previous years, and we are working with them to create an even bigger festival finale as a special way to remember this historic year.”
Cllr Pete Marland Leader of Milton Keynes Council
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EVENT SCHEDULE
Light Installation: Rhythms of Nature
4th October | 7pm–9pm | Bletchley Park, The Mansion, MK3 6EB
A unique light installation that showcases the Islamic arabesque art form, brought to life with cutting edge 3D animation techniques.
Following traditional arabesque workshops with MK College games design students, arabesque patterns have been digitised and adapted to create a stunning projection onto Bletchley Park mansion. The project has been created with support from renowned immersive media company, MBD, who have guided the students throughout, and provided development opportunities that showcase the use of 3D animation and games design in the arts sector.
Panel Discussion: Impact and Connections; A Changing Climate on our Mental Health
5th October | 10am–11.30am | MK College, Chaffron Way, MK6 5LP
Climate change is not just an environmental issue, it is also an issue of mental wellbeing. Our world has already changed and this is having a direct impact on the environments we live in, our health, and the wellbeing of
our societies. The climate emergency has begun and the World Health Organisation has encouraged countries to include mental health support in their response to the climate crisis.
We believe 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.
Aashiq Al Rasul Concert + Radiance Light Projection
6th October | 6pm–8pm | Church of Christ the Cornerstone, 300 Saxon Gate, MK9 2ES
A special evening of music from Aashiq Al Rasul (AAR) combined with a large-scale projection-mapped artwork at Church of Christ the Cornerstone.
An evening of fusion music from Nasheed singers, AAR whom we are extremely excited
to welcome back to Milton Keynes for a concert at Church of Christ the Cornerstone. As well as the launch of Radiance, a largescale projection-mapped artwork that transforms the Cornerstone Church into a moving and evolving canvas of light, colour, and pattern. Limbic Cinema explores themes of mathematics, Islamic art, nature, and community. Radiance celebrates the culture and creativity of Milton Keynes in the centre of the city. Expect to be mesmerised, uplifted, and taken through a journey of harmony and unity.
Milton Keynes’ City Celebration
8th October | 6pm–11pm | MK Station Square, 500 Elder Gate, MK9 1BB
The free finale to the brilliant City of Codes & Light Festival runs from 6pm on Saturday 8th October and celebrates Milton Keynes being named a city by The Queen Elizabeth II as part of Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this year.
Everyone is invited to the city centre for a family-friendly evening of free live music, amazing performances, and a brilliant light display. The City Council is partnering with MKIAC on the Festival’s finale to make it a celebration to remember.
Live music and performances on stage at Station Square from 6pm–11pm with a laser show at 8.50pm and 10.45pm providing the backdrop to thrilling music from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Symphonica & Mr Switch, with some further musical surprises.
A joyous ‘digital light parade’ starting at Church of Christ the Cornerstone at 7.30pm and meeting from 7pm (ending at the Station Square main stage for more entertainment).
A large-scale creative projection by Limbic Cinema called Radiance will transform the Church of Christ the Cornerstone into a moving and evolving canvas of light, colour, and pattern, exploring themes of mathematics, Islamic art, nature, and community from 7.15pm–8pm.
ARTISTS
Symphonica & Mr Switch
Symphonica is a fresh and brand new project, which fuses together two different worlds: the raw power and soul of the orchestra, and the heavy bass and beats of the DJ!
Over the course of 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 played before - by a whole Orchestra!
You couldn’t just have any DJ at the head of this project, It had to be Mr Switch - World DJ Champion, the reigning DMC World DJ Champion. Having already cut his teeth alongside orchestras - as 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, 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.
Instagram: @symphonica_mrswitch
Royal Philarmonic Orchestra
As the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) celebrates its 75th Anniversary in 2021, its mission to enrich lives through orchestral experiences that are uncompromising in their excellence and inclusive in their appeal, places the RPO at the forefront of music-making in the UK. Performing approximately 200 concerts each season and with a worldwide audience of more than half-a-million people, the Orchestra embraces a broad repertoire that enables it to reach the most diverse audience of any British symphony orchestra. Whilst artistic integrity remains paramount, the RPO is unafraid to push boundaries and is equally at home recording video game, film and television soundtracks and working with pop stars, as it is performing the great symphonic repertoire.
The RPO collaborates with the most inspiring artists and is thrilled to welcome its new Music Director, Vasily Petrenko. His appointment stands as a major landmark in the Orchestra’s history and together they will pursue a strategy to broaden the audience for orchestral music while enhancing the RPO’s reputation as one of the world’s most versatile and in demand ensembles.
The RPO aims to place orchestral music at the heart of contemporary society, collaborating with creative partners to foster a deeper
engagement with communities to ensure that live orchestral music is accessible to as inclusive and diverse an audience as possible. To achieve this, in 1993 the Orchestra launched RPO Resound, which has grown to become the most innovative and respected orchestral community and education programme in the UK and internationally. The programme delivers bespoke, pioneering education, community and talent development projects to a wide range of participant groups. Website: www.rpo.co.uk Instagram: @royalphilorchestra
Aashiq Al Rasul
Aashiq Al Rasul (AAR) is a music ensemble of like-minded individuals who were brought together through a common empirical belief enshrined in an expression of love towards the Creator and His beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Since 1998 AAR have illuminated this expression in the hearts and minds of millions, spanning continents and communities. Delivering the fundamentals of tolerance and harmony through a universal language: not of the tongue but of rhythm and melody.
Delivered through a repertoire of classical musical traditions of qasida, hamd, naat, qawwali, alongside modern nasheed intertwined with a fusion of languages and beats from across the globe, AAR endeavour to strive and consolidate a truly universal message in order to harmonise the basis of humanity: that of love and peace.
Website: aashiqalrasul.com/music Instagram: @aashiqalrasul
Modou Touré
Multi-lingual Senegalese singer Modou Touré is heir of the legendary group Touré Kunda, the first African group to achieve worldwide fame in the 1980s, Modou Touré was born into music. His voice strikingly echoes that of his father, Ousmane Touré, who was the inspiration for his choice of career. Passionate about music from a tender age, he was to be found regularly singing up a storm and playing the drums under his neighbours’ windows in the modest district of HLM4 in Dakar, where he spent his childhood.
Modou’s talent, focus, charisma and passion for music has carried him from Senegal’s capital city of Dakar to the international stage. Using highly groovy rhythms, sometimes afrobeat, pop-rock or funk, Modou reveals the power and beauty of his sublime voice, carrying us from Dakar to London via Paris and back!
Instagram: @modoutouremusic
Cirque Bijou
Cirque Bijou pushes the boundaries of contemporary circus, street theatre and spectacle, seeking out the new, unexpected and extraordinary. From shows for stadiums and festivals to intimate spaces, their work is always an unforgettable and exquisitelycrafted experience.
Cirque Bijou’s story began in 1999 with the inimitable artistic partnership of Julian Bracey and Billy Alwen. The company has since become a creative powerhouse with a team of producers and a global network of collaborators. The Cirque Bijou ethos combines a pioneering spirit with sky-high production values that gives their shows a unique edge few can match.
Today, Cirque Bijou makes shows in myriad environments with and for communities and clients worldwide, with emerging and world class artists, and for audiences of 50 to tens of thousands. They are proudly based in Bristol – a city full of artists and a thriving circus network.
Website: www.cirquebijou.co.uk
Social media: @cirquebijo
MBD
MBD creates beautiful and emotive storytelling experiences using virtual reality, augmented reality and large-scale projection. MBD use a blend of traditional arts expertise and technological innovation to bring stories to life. MBD tells stories from our past and present to create a better future. Website: www.mbd.limited Instagram: @mbd_vr
Limbic Cinema
Limbic Cinema is an award-winning multimedia design studio specialising in moving image production, projection mapping and light artworks.
Limbic Cinema create content that is displayed in non-standard formats, often innovating through the use of emerging technologies. You might engage with their work through an immersive visual experience, a large-scale outdoor projection, music video, or through an augmented reality app. They have also been known to make light sculptures.
Limbic Cinema’s varied portfolio reflects our passion to experiment, from 360 degree film exhibitions, to vertical dance shows and interactive installations, they thrive on undertaking new challenges and creating awe-inspiring content.
Storytelling is at the core of what Limbic Cinema do, be it devising their own narratives or engaging with their partners, they craft from beginning to end, from concepts and production to technical delivery.
Limbic Cinema’s clients include cultural institutions such as museums, theatres and concert halls, charities such as Eden Project, festivals such as Glastonbury, musicians such as Little Dragon, and brands including Redbull and Mercedes.
Website: limbiccinema.com Instagram: @limbiccinema
Worldbeaters
Worldbeaters is the result of a long-standing working partnership and friendship between directors Chris Maines-Beasley and Alex Tustin, who met through a shared passion for street theatre, whilst performing and travelling the globe. Tapping into a desire to create something with a wow-factor that would entertain and enthrall audiences from every country and culture - Spark! was developed and debuted seven years later.
Spark! - a world-class street theatre show that combines high impact drumming with kaleidoscopic lighting design. The ethereal characters use captivating and dramatic music
to interact playfully with the crowd; leading spectators on a spellbinding journey. As the smoke lingers and the lights fade, expect to be left with magical memories and rhythm in your every step.
Spark! is an unparalleled show, created in its entirety by Worldbeaters: from the drums, lighting design and music, to the choreography and costumes. Worldbeaters run an extensive in-house training programme and are proud to nurture emerging northeast talent.
Website: www.worldbeatersmusic.com Instagram: @worldbeatersmusic
Seb Lee-Delisle
Seb Lee-Delisle is a BAFTA award winning artist and speaker who specialises in large scale interactive light installations.
His work is a celebration of technology that encourages interaction and playfulness from the public. Drawing on his previous experience as a game programmer, he works with electronics, lasers and high power projectors to bring his artworks to life. Notable projects include Laser Light Synths, super bright bespoke synthesisers with laser visuals for the public to play, and PixelPyros, the Arts Council funded digital fireworks display that toured nationwide in 2013.
A regular speaker on the international conference circuit, he likes to demystify programming and explore its artistic possibilities. His presentations and workshops enable artists to overcome their fear of code and encourage programmers of all backgrounds to be more creative and imaginative.
Laser Light Synths won the 2016 Lumen Interactive Prize. He won 3 Microsoft awards in 2013, and he was Technical Director on Big and Small, the BBC project that won a BAFTA in 2009.
Website: www.seblee.me Instagram: @seb_ly
Aphra Shemza
Aphra Shemza is a UK-based multimedia artist. She is the granddaughter of the wellknown abstract painter Anwar Jalal Shemza. Inspired by her grandfather, her work explores modernism, her Islamic cultural heritage, sustainable practice and creating art for all. As an artist and activist, she finds ambitious ways to fuse methodologies from the past with new innovations in technology to imagine what the role of art could be in the future.
Shemza has been commissioned by and worked with: Barbican, Tate Britain, V&A, National Gallery X, British Library, Arts Council of England, Canary Wharf Group, Louis Roederer, Save The Children, Morley College, Winter Lights Festival, The Other Art Fair, Electronic Virtual Arts Conference, Ars Electronica Festival, Xi’an Maker Faire, The Courtauld Institute, Times, Telegraph, London Live, Time Out, FAD Magazine, GQ, Tower Eastbourne, Poole Museum, Norden Farm, Watermans, NCCA, Bournemouth University, Kensington + Chelsea Art Week, Coventry City Council, Art in Flux, Woodcraft Folk, DINA, The Margate School and The Festival of Curiosity.
Website: www.aphrashemza.com
Instagram: @aphrashemza
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 a wide range of materials including ceramics, natural pigments, and textile 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 really blossomed. She received her degree there.
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It was there that I was exposed to a completely new way of viewing and creating ‘art’. I became completely obsessed with what I learned there, 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 the use of symbolism in patterns and colours and I combine traditional techniques and concepts to create pieces with a slight modern feel to them.”
Maryam’s passion to share 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.
Instagram: @maryam_smit
Mahrukh Bashir
Mahrukh Bashir was born and brought up in Kenya and is now based in London. She gained a distinction from the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Art in her Master of Arts degree in Visual and Islamic Art. Mahrukh has a special interest and specializes in the arts of the book from the Islamic tradition. She is inspired by color and patterns in the natural world. She uses traditional methods, materials and disciplines that have been used since the Ottoman, Persian and Mughal periods.
Website: www.mahrukhbashir.com
Instagram: @mahrukh_b
