They Were People First, Light Up Lancaster Festival

Combining an original projection style fusing AI and collage with an evocative soundtrack, Leo & Hyde have created a dazzling array of visual possibilities for the Light Up Lancaster Festival 2023 that are as compelling and beautiful as the exhibition it has been inspired by.

Award-winning artist, Lela Harris, reflecting on her 6 powerful portraits of Black Lancastrians in the Facing the Past exhibition at the Judges Lodgings, says: ”Nobody knows what they looked like but they were people first and we should celebrate them as individuals as people and to remember that, at the end of the day, they had families, friends, hopes and dreams, just like us.”

Facing the Past: Black Lancastrians – A Portrait exhibition by Lela Harris has recently been shortlisted for a national Museum Association Decolonisation 2023 Award. The exhibition explores an often-overlooked period of Lancaster’s Black history and shines a light on the lives of the historic Black individuals living in the area in the 1700s. The exhibition is on permanent display at Judges’ Lodgings Lancaster. For opening times and access information please visit https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/museums/judges-lodgings/