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Military museum turned art and culture space opens

Tom MacDougallNorth East and Cumbria
News imageMolly Smith/BBC One of the features of the exhibition. A poloygonal sphere - if you can still call it a sphere- is suspended from the ceiling. It seems to be made from some kind of wire and glass combination. A light is being shone through it, which creates a geometric pattern on the wall of the darkened room.Molly Smith/BBC
The Light, formerly the Durham Light Infantry Museum, has opened its first exhibition

A former military museum has reopened as an arts and culture venue.

Over the past two years, the former Durham Light Infantry (DLI) Museum building at Aykley Heads, Durham, has been almost completely rebuilt.

Now called The Light, its first exhibition features different artists' experiments with light and showcases a replica of the first British lightbulb, created by Sunderland-born physicist Joseph Swan.

Durham County Council's cabinet member for leisure and tourism Karen Allison said the venue would "celebrate County Durham's heritage and innovative spirit".

"By remodelling and extending the existing 1960s building, we have created a modern and spacious venue capable of hosting world-class contemporary exhibitions," she said.

A portion of the space will still be dedicated to the venue's military heritage, with a permanent exhibition called We Are The Durhams.

News imageA khaki wartime uniform with brass buttons and a peaked collar behind a glass encasement.
A portion of the space will still be dedicated to local military history

The DLI Museum was closed in 2016 as part of Durham County Council's cost-cutting measures but plans to refurbish it were approved in 2024.

Construction was previously expected to be completed in late 2025 and it had been hoped the venue would open in early spring.

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