ECU City proudly joined the Illuminate line-up.
Thousands of visitors streamed through Yagan Square over the weekend as the precinct came alive in a vibrant celebration of light, creativity and community.
This year's Illuminate Yagan Square event, held on 17 and 18 April, marked an exciting new chapter with the Edith Cowan University (ECU) City Campus proudly joining the festival and showcasing its own striking artworks as part of the program.
Presented by DevelopmentWA and delivered by independent non-profit arts and cultural organisation FORM, Illuminate Yagan Square transformed the heart of Perth into a living, breathing nocturnal landscape. The immersive experience brought together performance, light and atmosphere in a striking after-dark spectacle, inviting audiences to explore the city centre in an entirely new way.
Staged across two unforgettable nights, the curated program featured a collection of immersive light installations by Western Australian artists, inspired by the theme "Shaped by Light." At its centre was PULSE, a sculptural installation of cascading strands of light that translated sound into motion, creating a dynamic illuminated canvas. Responding to a continuous program of live music, dance and Japanese drumming, the work offered an evolving sensory experience where light, sound and movement seamlessly intertwined.
'Journey', by artist Reko Renni.
Kep Bidi
As part of the Illuminate Yagan Square event, ECU delivered Kep Bid, an immersive public art experience designed around Perth's newest public artworks.
Kep Bidi was ECU City's first after‑dark immersive arts experience, transforming the campus into a flowing landscape of light, movement and sound. Through public artworks, digital premieres and interactive moments, the experience invited the public to wander, pause and connect with contemporary creativity and stories of place.
The public were invited into the ECU City Forum for 30-minute screenings of 'Human Cell Atlas' by Ouchhh Studio and 'INANNA' by Astral Projekt held on the four-storey Forum Screen, complete with custom lighting, LED furniture, and an immersive audio experience.
Outside, members of the public were encouraged to engage with 'Journey' and 'Kep Koorliny Djenna Bidi', the public artworks launched on 17 April.
'Journey', by artist Reko Renni, consists of two large-scale sculptures drawing on the tail feathers of the Karak (Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo) and the Ngoolark (Carnaby's Black Cockatoo), while also evoking Lake Goologoolup and its surrounding wetlands.
'Kep Koorliny Djenna Bidi', by artist Lea Taylor.
'Kep Koorliny Djenna Bidi', by local artist Lea Taylor, is an integrated artwork etched into the pavement outside the ECU City Campus, evoking the underground waterways that continue to flow beneath Whadjuk Country.
"To see our City Campus light up like this, with thousands of people streaming through over the weekend, is something truly special," ECU Vice-Chancellor Professor Clare Pollock said.
"As an immersive, digitally enabled campus, ECU City reflects our commitment to innovation in the creative industries while positioning the University as a leading cultural contributor."
"ECU City didn't just live up to expectations, it exceeded them. Seeing the Campus buzzing with energy as a part of Illuminate showed exactly what the precinct can become, and place of innovation, connection and creativity."
PULSE, by Alumni Racheal Dease and Giorgia Schijf.
Legacy in lights
The Illuminate Yagan Square event shone a spotlight on the exceptional talent of some of ECU's alumni, students and staff, with their creative contributions forming part of the program.
ECU alumni Racheal Dease and Giorgia Schijf were the artists behind the PULSE exhibition, which featured cascading strands light that translated sound into motion, with the light strands reacting to a continuous performance of live music, dance and drums.
Astral Projekt's artwork INANNA, which featured on the ECU City Forum Screen, combined striking digital imagery with a performance by WAAPA dancer Annmarie Clifton-James captured by WAAPA's Motion Studio lead Luke Hopper.
The result is a powerful work inspired by the ancient Sumerian goddess's descent into the underworld, exploring themes of ambition, power and transformation through a striking and immersive visual experience.
ECU staff member Marcin Oleszkiewich also assisted in the 'Discover Echoles of Presence' installation, an immersive artwork that surrounded visitors in an ever-changing environment of evolving constellations, luminous trails and pulsing spatial forms, which explored how human movement actively alters and reshapes space in real time.
