Alistair Hardaker | Image: Exterior photo of The Light 2026
The Light opens in Durham on 22 August in the former DLI Museum, with an opening exhibition exploring artists’ use of light from the 1960s to today.
The former Durham Light Infantry Museum and Art Gallery will reopen as a contemporary art venue, The Light, on 22 August 2026.
The venue, in Aykley Heads, Durham, has been transformed by architects NORR following investment by its owner, Durham County Council. According to the council, it is the first venue in County Durham of its scale and remit dedicated to contemporary art of national and international significance.
The venue’s links to military history will be retained through a dedicated DLI Gallery, telling the story of the regiment through objects, documents and film footage from the DLI Collection. The Light will be a sister venue to The Story, which provides the permanent home to the DLI Collection.
The Light will open with the exhibition Victory Over the Sun: Encounters with Light, which runs until 17 January 2027. The exhibition explores how artists have used light as a material in their work from the 1960s to the present day, using technologies from fluorescent tubes and neons to LEDs and digital media. It includes new commissions and works by artists including Olafur Eliasson, Tracey Emin, Jenny Holzer, David Shrigley, Steve McQueen, Cerith Wyn Evans and Chila Burman.
The exhibition takes Joseph Swan’s Practical Electrical Incandescent Lamp (1878-79) as its starting point. Swan, a physicist and inventor of the light bulb, was born in Sunderland within the historic county of Durham. The exhibition is organised around five themes and includes works such as Dan Flavin’s Untitled (to Don Judd, colourist) 1-5 and Steve McQueen’s neon work Remember Me (2016).
Cllr Karen Allison, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for leisure, tourism, regeneration and high street, said: “By remodelling and extending the existing 1960s building, we have created a modern and dynamic venue capable of hosting world-class contemporary exhibitions. A dedicated DLI gallery, meanwhile, will bring stories from the Regiment to life in ways that have never been possible before.”
The Light is located within the Durham Innovation District, a partnership between Durham County Council, Muse and Durham University. Entry to the venue and the DLI Gallery is free, with tickets for Victory Over the Sun priced at £10 for adults booking online and £2.50 for under-18s. The exhibition was curated by Natasha Howes.
