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A dazzling free summer lights festival is hitting Canary Wharf

Delight in the kaleidoscopic colours of these free outdoor installations

Alice Saville
Written by
Alice Saville
Contributing writer
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Okay, so you've done your time at London's various winter light festivals. You've shuffled with numb feet past various twinkling exhibits, pretending with all your mite that seeing art outdoors is a normal and indeed desirable way to spend a sub zero evening of your one and only life. Now, those days are over. It's summer, and you can see art outside without losing a finger to frostbite. And one way to do it is by heading down to Canary Wharf for 'Summer Lights'. 

Pointillist Bird by Yoni Alter
Photograph: Matt Alexander/PA WirePointillist Bird by Yoni Alter

Returning after its inaugural stint last year, 'Summer Lights' is a free festival of art inspired by sunlight, with a collection of installations that play with shadows, prisms, reflections and tinted glass to create serotonin-boosting visual effects. These include Fiona Grady's kaleidoscope-inspired assemblage of coloured triangles, Atelier Sisu's flock of semi-transparent plastic birds, Louis Thompson's delicate blown glass sculptures, and Aphra Shemza's installation highlighting rising sea levels. These artworks are installed are dotted across Canary Wharf's outdoor spaces, as part of the district's ongoing efforts to encourage people who aren't city workers to venture through its highrise-filled streets. 

Lights on Data by Fisheye
Photograph: Matt Alexander/PA WireLights on Data by Fisheye

The festival is on until Saturday August 20, and features 11 brand-new works that'll join existing public installations including Camille Walala's geometrically patterned mural 'Captivated by Colour': full line-up details are on Canary Wharf's website. And best of all? The fact that the whole thing unfolds in daylight means you'll be able to take some decent pics for the gram. Kaleidoscopic selfies, incoming. 

Summer Lights Festival is on at various Canary Wharf locations until Aug 20.

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