And that’s a wrap - Cathedral Chiaroscuro hits immersive heights
Local
Thousands of visitors have flocked to St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral to view a stunning kaleidoscope of daily colour and projections as part of the annual five-week Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Chiaroscuro is an Italian word meaning the effect of contrasted light and shade in art. The immersive spectacle attracted people of all ages, race, gender and faith to the iconic place of worship and reflection. Many ticketholders, of which 15,000 were expected, had never before set foot inside the Cathedral.
The light show lasted 18 minutes but in that time show-goers experienced myriad emotions. Among them was former Adelaide Fringe director Heather Croall.
“It was actually really calming,” Heather told The Southern Cross after attending Chiaroscuro in its second week. “It was like transcendental meditation, only you didn’t have to know how to ‘get there’ to that point, you just leaned into it.”
Heather, who has seen countless creative performances and installations across the globe throughout her career, isn’t easily impressed. Chiaroscuro’s mix of crafted light design, cutting-edge projections and sound delivered many-a “wow moment”.
“The Cathedral and the architecture there is stunning,” she said. “The lights started mapping out and ‘crawling’ all over the different parts of the architecture; every little detail of the stonework was mapped and the details in the stone were presented like little flower shapes. It was just so good.”
Despite a technical glitch during the opening show, the season was a hit and many sessions sold out.
“Thousands of people experienced Cathedral Chiaroscuro and the response has been phenomenal,” Adelaide Fringe acting CEO Tara MacLeod said.
“It has quickly established itself as one of the standout experiences of Adelaide Fringe this year, with audiences embracing the rare opportunity to see St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral transformed through light, sound and movement on such an extraordinary scale. It is immersive, moving and visually spectacular, and we’re thrilled to see so many people connecting with it.”
Choral music compiled by Cathedral musicians Timothy Davey and Astrid Sengkey accompanied the impressive projections, and as vivid flowers appeared to climb the Cathedral walls, gasps were heard through the music.
Heather said the best vantage point was right at the back of the Cathedral, in the middle of the aisle to benefit from the full impact of the light show. “It was epic, detailed, immersive, and very soothing,” she said. “I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.”
