Dickens's Life and Legacy Commemorated 150 Years On

“From these garish lights I vanish now for evermore, with a heartfelt, grateful, respectful,
and affectionate farewell”.

These were Dickens’s parting words at his last public reading. He died three months later on 9th June 1870. Today, we mark the 150^th anniversary of the great Victorian writer’s death.

Amongst the commemorations, we are thrilled to be able to share with you this stunning new film of a sound and light installation which was projected onto Westminster Abbey’s iconic West Towers over the weekend. The projection from Saturday evening was created by light and sound specialists, Luxmuralis, in collaboration with the Charles Dickens Museum and Westminster Abbey.

The work is rich and vivid, saturated in colour and dense with visual effects set against a stirring soundtrack which builds to form a dramatic and poignant tribute to the writer. It features illustrations, quotes and a new colourised photograph of the author taken from the exhibition ‘Technicolour Dickens: The Living Image of Charles Dickens’ which will launch at the Charles Dickens Museum as soon as it is able to re-open.

We're also honoured to be able to share this special message on behalf of the Dickens family. Filmed from lockdown by representatives of the family, many of whom had hoped to be attending wreath laying services at Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey today in honour of their ancestor Charles Dickens.

Concept, script and edit by Ian Dickens
'Isolation' - Written and performed by Michael Dickens

 
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