On 18 January Veolia will unveil Bottle Festoon as part of Lumiere London stressing the importance of preserving our environment and using waste as a resource as much as possible. The installation will transform used drinks bottles into glittering, eco-friendly chandeliers made by communities across the capital.
Each chandelier consists of 30 bottles that are cut, decorated and hung together as one, to create dazzling, jellyfish-like sculptures that are lit from within. These have been lined up in three locations across Lumiere London creating a gleaming light parade along King’s Cross’ Bagley’s Walk, Fitzrovia and Mayfair (Brown Hart Gardens).
Community workshops, organised by Artichoke in partnership with Veolia, took place across Croydon, Sutton, Lambeth, Greenwich, Redbridge and Waltham Forest where 1,000 attendees learnt about the importance of reusing and recycling plastics whilst creating the chandelier installations. A total of 40 schools and community groups in six London boroughs were involved in making over 200 chandeliers for the festival, reusing more than 6,000 plastic bottles.
Pascal Hauret, Regional Director for London, said: “Through sponsoring Lumiere London, we want to remind participants and visitors to Bottle Festoon of the fragility of our environment. We hope this installation will support a change to a more resourceful outlook, where Londoners see the potential of reusing and recycling more plastic across the capital. Spreading this message in schools and community groups were able to create the chandeliers themselves, is key to converting a throwaway culture into a much more sustainable one for the city.”
Lumiere London is the capital’s largest art event, visited by 2 million attendees and showcasing 50 installations around the city from 18– 21 January, which reimagine London’s architecture and streets, transforming them into a dazzling nocturnal art exhibition. To find out more and to view maps visit: visitlondon.com/lumiere or to learn about Veolia’s plastic recycling visit www.veolia.co.uk.