Creels and catenary wires

Creating community through winter lights displays

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2391245
AutoresJulia Bennett (0000-0003-3216-4424, Department of Social and Political Science, University of Chester Faculty of Social Science, Chester, UK, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume28
Fascículo2
Páginas246-263
Data de publicação2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Material Culture (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/13591835221089547
OpenAlexW4220797257
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas35

Lighting up darkness is a material practice shared across many cultures. Lighting up winter darkness is a particular concern in urban areas in order to make urban spaces feel safer and more welcoming. Temporary lights, often characterised as 'Christmas' or 'Winter' lights, are installed over the darkest period of the year (December in the northern hemisphere) in town and city centres to attract shoppers and tourists. This paper examines the lights displays installed over the Christmas/ New Year period in two British towns. In each case the lights are installed by volunteers, who also arrange a 'switch on' community celebration. The research argues that the architecture of the lights signifies and reinforces the identities of the communities involved. In particular, the paper examines: the importance of infrastructure for the ongoing creation of community; the creative potential of these temporary structures for community identity; and the essential materiality of community

Aesthetics · Art · Identity (music · Materiality (auditing · Period (music · SAFER · Sociology · Visual arts · Geographies of human-animal interactions · History · Religious Tourism and Spaces · Urban Planning and Governance · Architecture