Winner of Barnet ‘Light & Flight’ artwork contest revealed

Artist Matthew Rosier and UP Projects were named as overall winners of the contest, which received 15 competitive proposals.

The winning team will deliver a large-scale, visually striking, participatory or interactive artwork embodying the theme of ‘Light & Flight’.

Rosier’s and UP Projects’ Ascendance artwork will take the form of a large-scale outdoor projection installation shaped by the voices and lives of residents and communities.

The co-created £90,000 installation will be part of a borough-wide touring programme covering at least eight neighbourhoods in Barnet, including Colindale, Edgware and Finchley. Images of the winning concept have yet to be revealed.

The 12-month project – running from January 2026 to January 2027 – will conclude in a ‘Hero Festival’ in November 2026, drawing on Barnet’s aviation heritage, migration stories and the symbolism of light across faiths and cultures.

Anne Clarke, councillor and Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure, Arts & Sport, said: ‘Light and Flight is an exciting new moment for arts and culture in Barnet. It brings together artists and residents to create new work that reflects the identity of our borough.

‘From large-scale public installations to projects shaped directly by our communities, this programme reveals the stories, creativity and shared experiences that make Barnet such a distinctive and dynamic place.’

Rosier said: ‘As an artist drawn to how places and people came to be, it’s so exciting to be creating an artwork that will make this visible. Barnet to me represents what I love about my home city: the multitudes of stories, journeys and landscapes that somehow hold each other together. This is what we will come together to celebrate in Ascendance.’

Barnet is a large and diverse north London borough with a growing population of around 390,000 residents. The competition comes two years after POoR Collective and GPAD completed a competition-winning overhaul of Barnet’s Copthall Pavilion.

The Light & Flight commission will form the centrepiece of the council’s Cultural Impact Award programme. Key aims include positioning the borough as a place where ‘creativity, heritage and community intersect’ and delivering an accessible, spectacular artwork ‘rooted in Barnet’s cultural identity’.