London's Burning: commemorating the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire

Up in flames … a Balinese temple sculpture in Derry, Northern Ireland, by fire artist David Best, who is creating a new installation for the London’s Burning festival. Photograph: Matthew Andrews

The capital’s biggest landmarks will form the backdrop to a series of art installations and performances to mark the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London later this month.

Exploring the impact of the fire on London’s history, as well as its contemporary resonance, London’s Burning will be a free festival of arts and ideas from 30 August at locations across the City and the banks of the Thames.

An oil painting of the Great Fire of London, seen from Ludgate Hill. Photograph: Museum of London

Artist Martin Firrell’s installation Fires of London will see the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral illuminated with a fiery projection visible from across the river. On the other side of the Thames, French fire artists Compagnie Carabosse will create a “fire garden” transforming the area in front of the Tate Modern.

A recent Dominoes event in Mulhouse, eastern France. Photograph: =/Elsa Levecot

On Saturday 3 September, Dominoes will involve thousands of breezeblocks lined up across the city, then toppled to follow three branching routes in an evocation of the way the fire spread. For the festival finale, a 120-metre-long sculpture of the 17th-century London skyline in flame will appear on the Thames in a collaboration between US artist David Best and local schools and young Londoners.

The festival will also include a programme of talks and performances, including a poetry reading by actor Simon Callow, and talks from London’s highest-ranking female fire fighter, Becci Bryant. Writers Suzanne O’Sullivan and Andrew Michael Hurley, author of gothic horror novel The Loney, will explore the fascination and fear that form our relationship with fire.

A fire installation by Compagnie Carabosse at Durham Cathedral. Photograph: Matthew Andrews

Helen Marriage, director of Artichoke, the creative company that has curated the event with the help of Arts Council England, said: “London’s Burning brings a unique contemporary perspective to the Great Fire, exploring the challenges and issues faced by major world cities today, our relationship with catastrophe and crisis and our ability to adapt, adjust and rebuild.

“It is an artistic response that addresses the impact of the Great Fire of London on the City, its inhabitants and buildings, and how it emerged from the ashes and evolved to the resilient world city it is today.”

• For the full programme of events visit: visitlondon.com/greatfire350