Pilgrimage City was a small scale project by Liam Hirst.
Liam attends Pyramid as an artist but also works as a volunteer with HCPT Leeds, a charity which takes children with disabilities on pilgrimage holidays to Lourdes.
Liam used audio equipment to capture the sounds of his trip to Lourdes in 2015 and used these sounds to inspire the creation of a portable sound piece. His sculpture took the form of a large lantern with architectural structures reflecting the mysterious architecture of Lourdes, decorated with arrows to show the flow of people around the site, and a series of old keys (from Leeds Town Hall) to illustrate the secretive or mysterious nature of some of the buildings. Liam audio recordings of his visit, of the crowds moving through the town of Lourdes, played from the lantern itself.
Liam then took this lantern on its own walking tour, through Leeds and a very different set of crowds, on Light Night 2015.
Although small in scale this project was highly significant for Pyramid, as it was the first time that an individual artist had successfully applied for grant funding for their project. The project was supported by a grant from Arts Council England.
