Simon Lebus blogs on the illuminating art Cambridge Assessment sponsored for local exhibition Art Language Location and explains the link to our new Cambridge headquarters, Triangle.
We are delighted again to be supporting
Art Language Location, the annual exhibition of contemporary art displayed in locations all over Cambridge city, featuring innovative artists who use text in their work. The exhibition is open to the public until the 29th October. This year we have sponsored a piece called
'The Act of Creation' (pictured above) by Zara Banks and Joe Banks, which is on display at Anglia Ruskin university.
We chose this because the language-based theme ties in with the public art which will feature at Triangle, our new Cambridge headquarters. The Banks' installation piece takes the form of illuminated words stating: 'Let there be Language', and is reminiscent of the installation at Triangle, the design of which is based around etchings of words in many different languages and scripts, housed in an illuminated tower, and which will serve as a landmark for anybody coming into Cambridge by train (an artist's impression pictured above).
The concept behind public art like this is to incorporate within the new building something that reflects engagement with the community and, to that end, we approached our network of schools (both in the UK and internationally) to ask the question (appropriately for an exam board) "What is knowledge?" We received responses in 34 different languages - including Guernsey French, Afrikaans, Swahili, Bengali Tibetan and Manx – and these are going to be etched into the glass casing for the illuminated 'torch' at the top of the tower section of our new building. Part of the public engagement process also saw the artists behind the Triangle piece (
Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier) visiting local schools, and having the children try their own hands at etching words onto coloured glass (pictured above).
We are now just past the half-way mark in the construction process. It's still a bit difficult to imagine how it will look in twelve months’ time when building work finishes, but there is no doubt that the intricate word-based design of the torch will, when finished, visibly and elegantly symbolise our core purpose.
Simon Lebus
Group Chief Executive, Cambridge Assessment