Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese REPORT
9 Dec 2011
The spectacular Lights of Christmas display on the western facade of St Mary's Cathedral was launched last night by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell and the NSW Attorney General, Hon Greg Smith to the applause of many who watched the projections tell the story of Peace through beautiful and symbolic reflections and Renaissance artwork.
This is the second year laser projections have coloured the Cathedral in the run-up to Christmas and many hope it will become a Sydney tradition.
Creative Director, Anthony Bastic, was relieved the rain stayed away for the launch which also featured the Australian Girls Choir.
"Christmas is often a time of personal growth and with growth often comes wisdom," Anthony said.
"So this year we have followed that pathway beginning with the first scene when we see the universal symbol of peace, the Dove.
"We then move into the Growth segment where we see familiar plants and flowers growing over the facade of the Cathedral such as Jasmine, Wisteria and Jacaranda.
"An owl appears in the tree as we see reflections of foliage in the pond below, the owl takes flight as a feather falls - imparting his wisdom. We follow the feather as it drops into a pond below, sending out ripples which signify the affect our wisdom can have on others.
"Entering the water we can see above and below, a metaphor for seeing things from a different perspective which provides the wisdom required to bring about peace.
"Light rays appear from the colourful stained glass windows and the dawning of a new beginning in turn brings us hope."
In the final scene of the story the projections return to the traditional Christmas imagery of a tree growing from a seedling. The tree is an iconic Sydney fig tree and it is decorated with colourful baubles which places everyone back to the present.
A bonus for the display this year then follows with a series of Madonna and Child artworks now on display in Canberra at the National Gallery.
These Renaissance works, 15th and 16th century Italian paintings, are by masters such as Bellini, Botticelli, Titian and Raphael which are normally on display at the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy.
While families, friends and tourists marvel at the moving laser projections, the symbolism is certainly not lost on many.
For example the beautiful blue images are representative of the Blessed Mary, the images of three leaves represent the Holy Trinity and the spreading tree, the Tree of Life.
The Lights of Christmas, which is sponsored by the NSW Government, can been seen every night from the Cathedral forecourt from now until and including Christmas Eve from 8.30pm until midnight. There will be live choirs performing Thursday through to Sunday from 7.30pm to 8.30pm.
On Monday 19 December the projections will also be streamed live on the Archdiocese of Sydney's social network xt3.com so people around the world will have the chance to see the very unusual and skilful creative expression of Christmas 2011, Sydney style.
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