Birmingham Hippodrome is set to beam a special light installation from Birmingham city centre over the New Year period to share a message of hope and peace for 2021.

The installation - Global Rainbow - will be beamed Northwest of Birmingham towards the Black Country and is an ongoing public artwork by Artist Yvette Mattern.

Yvette, known as The Rainbow Girl, has presented Global Rainbow internationally in cities including New York, Sao Paulo and Kobe as a visual translation of hope and peace.

The artwork beams seven rays of laser light representing the colour spectrum of a natural rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. The installation is presented by Birmingham Hippodrome as part of Global Streets, a national project funded through Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants. Graham Callister, Director of Festivals said: 

“We are delighted to end the year by presenting this monumental light installation by Yvette Mattern, a hugely talented and internationally renowned visual artist. This beautiful work coming to Birmingham and the Black Country has been made possible thanks to Arts Council England, Global Streets and Bullring & Grand Central. 

“It is hugely important people do not travel to see this installation – the joy of this special visual artwork is that it can be seen safely from the homes of those living nearby by simply looking to the sky. Depending on local light levels and weather conditions, we expect the lights to reach up to 10 miles.

“We encourage people who can see the rainbow from their homes to share photos on social media using #BrumRainbow. We hope those that see it will be able to pause, reflect and take in a moment of hope and peace for 2021.”

Global Rainbow will be beamed northwest out the city and it is expected to be seen in Birmingham City Centre, the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham City Hospital, areas of Smethwick and Oldbury, dependent on weather conditions. 

It is extremely important that people do not travel to view Global Rainbow. It can be viewed safely from people’s home in the laser beams path.