Programme

In this installation, artificial intelligence is used to reveal another place to the audience, creating an indelible link between Leicester and Dubai.
Cities Tango : Leicester+Dubai displays images of and from each location. Images are dynamically revealed within an otherwise abstract structure. A set of local photographs are interlaced with colour stripes and shown in the other city. Each city, and the people in them, interact with one another across time zones. The colours, stripes and timings used are driven by movements at each location. Immediate responses to rapid movement are seen by the audience in each location. In each place there is a screen which is interactive, using a computer and camera, showing an ever-changing blend of colour bands and images from the other city (connected over the Internet). A second, urban, screen in each city shows that location’s Cities Tango images.

What is seen depends on the movement of people in front of the display and on what is happening in the twin city. In each location the work reacts to detected motion. At the same time, analysed image information is sent over the internet to the other location to further influence the work’s behaviour. Cities Tango also evolves over time as a result of the detected movement of people. It uses AI in two respects. Pattern recognition drives its direct responses to movement and a rule-based system drives the evolution of the colours and behaviour. The evolution develops as a result of the history of the movement of the audiences in both cities. Dubai influences Leicester and Leicester influences Dubai in a tango danced between the two cities.

Part of Leicester’s Art AI Festival 2021

How has the design workforce’s productivity and collaboration been impacted by the pandemic?

The Create Leicester team interviewed their community supporters on their thoughts on how the digital design workplace has evolved during the pandemic and their predictions for the future.

Two of the Art AI Festival exhibiting artists, Ernest Edmonds and Fabrizio Poltronieri, discuss their co-located artworks being shown simultaneously at the Dubai Expo and venues in Leicester.

Watch the talk on YouTube (1 hr 5 m)

Part of Leicester’s Art AI Festival May 2021 to March 2022

A free virtual talk featuring one of the latest and most exciting technology platforms for visualising 3D creative processes and accurately simulating product and human behaviour in real-time. NVIDIA Omniverse has gained considerable attention since its earlier-than-planned-launch in May 2020, not just because of the pandemic but because of its collaborative workflow potentials, made possible through its use of open standards.

This event will be chaired by Tracy Harwood, Professor of Digital Culture at the Institute of Creative Technologies, De Montfort University, Leicester, and features George Matos, senior product manager of Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector for the NVIDIA Omniverse platform.

The event will be live-streamed 4-5pm on Thursday 28 October, with an opportunity for audience Q&A; and will then be available to watch on YouTube – see link below.

This year Design Season has asked the city’s designers and design networks to takeover 4 spaces across the city and create 4 pop up exhibition, workshop and demonstration spaces across the city. Supported by Leicester’s High Street Heritage Action Zone. We invite visitors and residents in to learn skills, view exhibits and experience demonstrations from some of the city’s creative design talent.

Design-Nation is the leading portfolio for designer-makers, artists and craftspeople based in the UK. A selection of makers from Design Nation’s Leicestershire Hub have come together to bring you an exciting pop up exhibition showcasing their latest creations.

The exhibition features pieces made using a variety of different materials and techniques including ceramics, felt making, metal work, weaving and paper sculpture. As part of the event the makers will be giving live talks and demonstrations, including felting, weaving and carving ceramics, giving a unique insight into how the wonderful works on display were created.

This pop-up exhibition/showcase is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4.30pm, and Sundays 10am-3pm, free entry, with demos on Tuesdays, Saturdays & Sundays during Design Season (see below)

Book your place at a Design Nation demonstration via the links below:

Designer Weaver – Sarah Johnson   Tuesdays 19 & 26 October 10am-4pm, free

Ceramics carving – Elle Maxwell of Speckled Grey Design demonstrates ceramic carving   Saturdays 23 & 30 October  10am-4pm, free

Felt Sculpture – Rachel Morley of Feltyrach demonstrates her practice of sculptural felt working   Sundays 24 & 31 October 10am-4pm, free

Window lettering in photo above : Lorna Dunn of @lesser_than_three

From Nupur Arts – Design and Heritage exhibition at Newarke Houses social history and regimental museum. Real stories from real people of how Gujaratis settled and made their home in Leicester – told through design – traditional costumes, old toys, traditional utensils, photographs, jewellery and textiles.

Newarke Houses is open Monday to Saturday 10am-4pm, Sunday 11am-4pm. Entry is free except on event days.

This exhibition finishes on 28 November 2021.

Leicester has undergone significant culture-led regeneration with areas transforming into new, vibrant and exciting places.
Discover more about Leicester’s Cultural Quarter by joining an informative, architect-led guided walk covering the history and recent transformation of the area from hosiery and boot making to today’s creative industries. Architect Nils Feldmann, on behalf of the Leicestershire and Rutland Society of Architects, will expertly guide visitors around the Cultural Quarter. The walk will include the LCB Depot, Curve, Maker’s Yard and the Phoenix. Not to be missed!
Meet at 10am in the Lightbox gallery in our local architecture exhibition at LCB Depot, then join us for a tour (10am-12pm) of the Cultural Quarter.

A Leicestershire & Rutland Society of Architects Love Architecture event.

“We started building our on city maps three weeks previous. Come and join our team to continue to build your very own paper model to place on our city map. Previous attendance is not essential. Our team of professionals will be on hand with help and advice. Drop in for 5 minutes, or stay for the whole session, it’s completely up to you – and how intricate your design is! This event was a great success in previous years and we do hope you will come and join us. There’s no need to book your tickets if you just fancy popping along between 12pm and 3pm on the day, but we’d love to know in advance if you’re thinking of joining us. There’s no age limit on playing and exploring so all are welcome to come along and get creative. Teams are also welcome, but remember to bring your own adult – no unaccompanied children, please.”

A Leicestershire & Rutland Society of Architects Love Architecture event.

A rare opportunity for people across Leicestershire and Rutland to meet our RIBA architects with a free one-to-one half-hour design consultation.
Bring any home or design query; whether you are looking for advice to create more space in your home, or are looking for ways to bring in more natural light, our architects will do their best to help you. You do not need to be planning a “Grand Designs” style house to come along to LCB Depot between 12pm and 3pm and talk to a professional, but we would recommend bringing plans (if you have them) and photographs of your existing space.

A Leicestershire & Rutland Society of Architects Love Architecture event.

Upcycling – is it design? Is it Art? Find out at our exhibition featuring work from local upcycling activist Kieran Walsh and De Montfort University School of Art, Design and Architecture and School of Fashion and Textiles at De Montfort University.

Funded by the DMU Sustainability Team, and in partnership with LCB Depot, this exhibition presents contributions by seven awardees in the ‘Upcycling Art, Craft and Design Competition’. The competition aimed to contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and targeted DMU students, alumni, staff and their families and friends, and community people.

The exhibition contributors (competition awardees) are: Tim Neath (Gold); Katarzyna Bigaj and Nicole Lander (Silver); and Christina Wigmore, Issy Staniaszek, Jenny McIlhatton and Millie Rees (Bronze).

Open Monday to Friday noon to 5pm, free.

The ISKCON centre is a Hindu temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.