Unusual Rigging supports final Lumiere Durham after 15-year collaboration

31st December 2025

Unusual Rigging played a pivotal role in the  final edition of Lumiere Durham, which took place at the end of 2025, continuing a collaboration with producer Artichoke Trust that has spanned every festival since its launch in 2009.

Since its inception, Lumiere Durham has become a benchmark for large scale, site specific light art in public and heritage settings, transforming the city into an outdoor gallery across its streets, bridges, riverbanks and historic landmarks. Unusual Rigging has supported the festival’s technically ambitious programme, delivering engineered rigging solutions across sensitive urban and architectural environments.

Among the festival’s most recognisable works supported by Unusual was 1.26 Durham by Janet Echelman in 2013, a vast illuminated net sculpture suspended across the River Wear. The installation became one of Lumiere’s most photographed moments and remains emblematic of the scale, complexity and public facing nature of the event.

Helen Marriage, CEO and Artistic Director of Artichoke Trust, said: “Ever since the first Lumiere in 2009, Unusual Rigging has been a trusted supplier, working with our production teams to design innovative and creative technical solutions to our most challenging projects. From working in delicate heritage environments such as Durham Cathedral to rigging artworks over the River Wear or across medieval streets, Unusual’s breadth of knowledge and expertise is unrivalled in this area.”

For the final edition of the festival, Unusual worked closely with Artichoke’s production team, local authorities and artists to deliver a wide range of installations safely and efficiently in live public spaces. Flurocycle, by Hannah Ayre, involved suspending 70 bicycle wheels beneath 10 catenary wires spanning a pedestrianised street. Working from a mobile elevating work platform, the Unusual team installed and pull tested the catenary system before individually suspending each wheel using pre cut wires. Flexibility on site proved essential when an imprecision in the hang plan became apparent, with the team carefully adapting the layout and handling the fragile artwork elements to achieve the intended visual outcome.
A Light Still Shines by Lewis Hobson,  required the fixing of three large aluminium grates to the façade of a brick building. The installation involved lifting and securing the heavy metal elements while maintaining the integrity and appearance of the existing structure, demonstrating the balance required when delivering large scale artworks in heritage contexts.

A key collaboration this year saw Unusual working with artist Amelia Kosminsky on Solace, an installation comprising nearly 200 handmade lanterns that appeared to float within the Cloisters at Durham Cathedral. The artwork demanded near invisible rigging while providing sufficient structural resilience for an outdoor, weather exposed environment.

Kosminsky said: “It is always my pleasure to work with Unusual on an artwork of mine, particularly when they are new pieces. They are able to imagine the extraordinary out of things that may seem impossible to do. The rigging for Solace was wrapped so carefully that even experienced artists struggled to see how it was supported.”

Tom Harper, Managing Director at Unusual Rigging, commented: “From landmark works suspended over the river to deeply personal installations such as Solace, Lumiere has continually pushed what is possible in public space. To support the final edition of such an important cultural event has been a real privilege for our team.”

Throughout the festival, Unusual Rigging delivered structural assessments, bespoke rigging design, installation and de rig services, enabling the final chapter of Lumiere Durham to be realised while maintaining the highest standards of safety and compliance.