The light show which wowed thousands over four days in January at the start of the University of Cambridge’s 800th Anniversary celebrations, was one of the highlights of the opening ceremony of the 2nd China International Youth Arts Festival in Beijing last weekend.

The University was invited by the Ministry of Culture in China to participate in the second annual festival, which features a variety of young performers from around the world over its 12-day run.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research Ian Leslie and four-time Olympic gold medallist Deng Yaping recited Xu Zhimo’s poem, A Farewell to Cambridge, the first and last two lines of which are carved on to a block of marble that sits in the grounds of King’s College. The show was accompanied by a specially-commissioned piece of music for piano, violin and voice, inspired by the famous poem.

The inaugural festival was staged just prior to the 2008 Olympic Games, and featured more than two thousand participants from China, the UK, the United States, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Hong Kong, Taiwan and more.

Present at last weekend's Opening Ceremony were Sun Jiazheng, Vice-Chairman of the China People's Political Consultative Conference; Li Zhaoxing, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Madame Zhao Shaohua, Vice-Minister of Culture.

Among the Cambridge alumni who attended the celebration were Olympian Deng Yaping, Deputy Secretary General to the Beijing Communist All Youth Federation; Zhang Xin, Chief Executive Officer of real estate developer SOHO China; and Sir William Ehrman, Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

Many of Cambridge’s most distinguished alumni are featured in the light show, including Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking. The show also features some stunning images from various University departments and colleges, including the University Library, the Department of Engineering and Gonville & Caius College.

Saturday’s ceremony will be broadcast in July on China Central Television (CCTV).

The light show was first shown in Cambridge in January, when it was projected on to Senate House and Old Schools. More than 10,000 people came to see the show over its 3-day run.

The show was designed and produced by world-renowned light artist Ross Ashton, was projected onto the facades of Senate House and Old Schools in January of this year.

Ashton has worked on large-scale projections across enormous surfaces. These have included a mountain in Oman, projecting 200m x 100m of images across a distance of 500 metres. His most prestigious British events include the New Year’s Eve celebrations in London 2004 to 2008, The Queen’s Golden Jubilee at Buckingham Palace and the Edinburgh Tattoo.

 

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