YORK Minster has unveiled a 'stunning' new sound and light installation which takes inspiration from the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Platinum and Light illuminates the cathedral’s cavernous Nave, running the full length of its ceiling and down the West End while surrounding viewers with dramatic soundscapes and music.

The display will run through the October half term to help raise funds to conserve the cathedral’s medieval stained glass and stonework.

In particular, it will help raise funds for a current project to conserve the medieval St Cuthbert Window, which is one of the largest surviving narrative windows in Europe, and the stonework of the surrounding South Quire Transept.

The artwork is by artists Ross Ashton and Karen Monid, who created the multi-award winning Northern Lights installation which ran at the Minster in October 2019.
 
Neil Sanderson, Director of the York Minster Fund, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Ross and Karen back to York Minster following the success of Northern Lights in 2019 and are looking forward to sharing this stunning new installation with our visitors.
 
“We were overwhelmed with the response to the events in 2019, and look forward to welcoming people to see the Minster in a different light while supporting our work to conserve its world-renowned medieval stained glass and exquisite stonework.”
 
Projection artist Ross Ashton said he wanted to create something which marked the Platinum Jubilee and the historic milestone in the reign of the Queen, and so took this as a starting point to explore how metals asre used to denote the passage of time.

“We wanted to bring this back to York and look at stories which specifically come from the city, using the Minster’s historic collection and architecture as inspiration.

"So we start by exploring the Viking influence here through iron, then look at the Byzantine Empire through gold and end with the ‘modern’ metal platinum.”

Designer and audio artist Karen Monid said they found York and the Minster an 'infinite source of inspiration' for their work.

"To be invited back again to use this space, one of the most beautiful places in the world, to produce an artwork is a fantastic privilege," she said.

“One of the things we were keen to do this time is bring modern day York to past York so the audio for the piece includes music from the Choir of York Minster, alongside readings in Old Norse and Middle English and with modern folk music from Yorkshire based band, Mookie and The Bab."
 
The first show is this evening at 9 pm, and it will then run daily until next Thursday, October 27, with two showings each evening at 7.30pm and 9 pm. On Sunday, the shows will be at the earlier times of 6.30pm and 8pm.

*Tickets are available via the cathedral’s website at www.yorkminster.org and cost £7.50 each, or £25 for a family ticket for up to two adults and two children