Warriors

Alison at work told me about this installation this morning; she'd walked past as they'd been setting it up. She told me about it and I decided to head along after work.

These are artist Xia Nan’s army of 90 multi-coloured 2.5 metre-high lantern warriors. They were originally commissioned for the 2008 Beijing Olympics - inspired by 8000 terracotta soldiers discovered in 1974 when the tomb of the first Chinese Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, was unearthed in the country’s Xi’an province.

They are here to mark the Chinese New Year; celebrated on the first day of the Chinese calendar, which falls this year on 31 January. This year brings the beginning of the Year of the Horse, which is said to bring prosperity and wealth. The warriors are accompanied by a horse to mark this, but you'll have to visit the installation yourself to see that one!

The warriors are located in Edinburgh University’s Old College Quadrangle. It was quite eerie when I was there at about 5.30pm. There were lots of people there, but everyone was really quiet moving in and out of the lanterns. I could have used any of a dozen photos I took, but I really liked the shadows the warriors made on the wall of the University buildings. It added to the eerie atmosphere.

I'd recommend a visit if you can make it down - the installation is free to view between 4pm - 9pm every day until 7 February 2014.