Tuesday 3 August 2010

Starting a blog for our Light Night piece...

Well, we've just had to describe what our bit of Brookheimeresque "edutainment" is all about in 50 words. That felt kinda web-friendly, so I've taken it as an incentive to start telling people a bit more about it. This is my first blog and Underworlds Live in Leeds is my first project as an "artist", so here goes....

WHAT: Underworlds Live in Leeds: Eleanor OKell and Robert Elliott


WHERE: Leeds City Museum: Ancient Worlds Gallery and across Leeds

WHEN: 5pm-10pm in the Museum, till much later elsewhere, Friday 8th October 2010

Journey in time and space to return Leeds' forgotten Greek, Roman and Egyptian underworlds to life - complete with their myths and denizens. Meet them in the Ancient Worlds Gallery and across Leeds. Will you cross the River Styx with the Ferryman, find Persephone or let Horus weigh your soul?


Not bad - huh?

Anyway, we got asked to flesh it out, so here's a bit more detail in case I've whetted your appetite!

Underworlds Live in Leeds takes an imaginative closer look at the art and architecture of the city in which we live.

Leeds is full of references to the Greek, Roman and Egyptian past that usually go unnoticed. This performance piece / alternative walking tour brings those pasts to life by presenting Leeds as the ancients’ afterlife location and making them available to comment!

Journeys through the underworlds can be taken with the aid of written guides and verbal instructions from characters in the City Museum or from displays in various locations, which will indicate another point of interest. As well as learning about Leeds' past and the ancient underworlds you could cross the River Styx with Charon the ferryman, get a prophecy from the Sibyl, help to find Persephone, hear a funeral oration, follow the obelisk trail or even let the Egyptian god Horus weigh your soul.

For those seeking more factual information an expert will be on hand in the City Museum, there will be an exhibition in the Classics Library (1st floor, Parkinson Building, University of Leeds) and the written guides will be available for download after Light Night from Classics Yorkshire.

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