'Fun' light exhibition tells story of ancient Bible
Durham UniversityA new light and sound installation is telling the story of the Codex Amiatinus - thought to be the oldest intact complete Bible in existence.
Called Rivers of Ink, the exhibition was created by London-based artists Karen Monid and Ross Ashton in collaboration with Durham University researchers and will be touring the north-east of England throughout February.
The show traces the long history of writing and book-making, culminating in the creation of the Codex Amiatinus in early eighth-century Northumbria.
PhD researcher Lauren Randall said the tour is "going to be fun and engaging for people of all ages".
Randall has extensively researched the Codex Amiatinus with Prof Francis Watson, of Durham University's Department of Theology and Religion.
She said: "Codex Amiatinus is probably the most important book ever made that we still have today.
"It's got such a huge legacy to it, and it was made right here in north-east England.
"But unlike the Lindisfarne Gospels, people don't necessarily know about it, and we feel it's something that we absolutely should be celebrating."
The tour will include visits to the church of St Mary the Virgin on Holy Island, Blackfriars Restaurant in Newcastle, and culminate on 23 February at Durham Cathedral.
Durham UniversityThe book was produced at the twin monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow in the early 700s.
It required hundreds of animal skins to produce, along with the labour of highly skilled scribes, artists and bookbinders.
Monid said: "This project has presented a wonderful opportunity for Ross and myself to look at the human story behind the history of writing - what the scribes thought, went through and achieved to produce the documents they have left us with today.
"The North East is rightly proud of this and we feel privileged to have developed a work that can take an experience of this book back to the people."
