Theresa Thompson on Bruce Munro’s installation of seven imaginative light works at Waddesdon

‘Munro-bagging’ is a bit of a tradition among Scottish hillwalkers: the thrill of climbing all the highest mountains. Over at Waddesdon Manor during the Christmas season, a different sort of Munro-bagging and a different sort of thrill could be said to be taking hold for visitors to the French-style manor: gazing spellbound at spectacular light installations by internationally acclaimed light artist Bruce Munro.

London-born artist Munro, returning to Waddesdon for his third year as artist-in-residence, has seven installations on show this year. Known for his light works at the V&A, the Holburne Museum, Bath, the Eden Project, Cornwall, and other venues including in the US, he said he enjoys playing with light.

Beacon, an impressive sculp-tural installation built as a dome using optical fibre and empty plastic bottles lit from within, is a very good example of his enjoying “playing around with everyday objects and seeing if you can create a little bit of magic from them.” The work was first created in 2013 to bene-fit the UK charity ‘Cancerkin’ and installed at the top of a knoll near his Wiltshire home.

“Taking the simple things in life and making something mesmerising out of them can be childish but fun!” he added, referring to Gathering of the Clans, a new piece, which evokes his time in Australia as a young man, woken daily by the “awful sound” of galahs. As you approach this work in the darkness, memories of Australia flood back for anyone who has been there: all you hear is the raucous onomatopoeic calls of the colourful cockatoos that are found everywhere. Vision coming to the aid of sound, suddenly there are rows upon rows of rotary clothes lines (a classic Australian creation) to see, topped by fluorescent pegs — Munro’s joke is making them in 19 colours to match the 19 types of galah.

Munro also likes to play with words. One of the best works this year is the site-specific visual pun called Moon Harvest. Seen for the first time at Waddesdon, this is inspired by the term ‘Harvest Moon’, and Munro noticing bales of straw wrapped in plastic in the fields around his home.

“Living in the country piques one’s awareness of the seasonal calendar and how it affects the landscape,” he said. With the face of the moon projected onto both faces of scattered cylindrical bales, it’s an atmospheric recreation of the optical effect of the harvest moon on a dark night.

Field of Light is perhaps Munro’s best-known artwork. His new version of it here is a circular work of gently rhythmical red-coloured lights set in the rose garden as a First World War commemorative work.

As well as the trail of Munro’s light works in the gardens there is a seventh installation inside the house. This one, called Snow Code and based around the Morse code and Inuit words for snow, is a serene piece, carrying with it the rhythms of gently falling snow. It conjures up that childlike uncomplicated sense of awe on seeing the first snow fall outside a window.

That’s not all. Not by any means. Few places put so much effort into their Christmas decorations as the team at Waddesdon. Photographs hardly do it justice — the French-style chateau Waddesdon is transformed like a fairy tale in the Christmas season.

Inside the house, each year there is a theme to the decorations. This Christmas it is Lights and Legends, which looks at stories, myths and rituals from around the world, such as The Snow Queen, Diwali, the Russian Babushka, and tales from Hans Christian Andersen – and unvaryingly lovely Christmas trees, themed and richly decked, adorn the rooms.

Across in the Stables will be a hive of activities for families, with lantern making, Siberian huskies and more. And a Christmas Fair from November 26 until December 7 (Wednesdays to Sundays) brings together two of their most popular events, the Christmas Gift Fair and Food Market.

Bruce Munro
Waddesdon Manor
Until January 4
01296 653226 or waddesdon.org.uk