Gathering at dusk on Saturday 30 April hundreds of participants aka Lumenators, from all walks of life, came together at Giant’s Ring Belfast for the first Northern Ireland event for Green Space Dark Skies. Developed by outdoor art experts Walk the Plank, Green Space Dark Skies is part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK running April to September 2022.
Carrying a low impact Geolight designed by Siemens onto the Giant’s Ring, Lumenators helped to create a large-scale artwork, celebrate nature and everyone’s right to explore the countryside. Lumenators carrying hundreds of handheld Geolights with built-in GPS technology that changes the colours and intensity of the lights, created three simple patterns in the landscape: a spiral, a wheel and a heart. There was no live audience and the exact location was kept secret to protect the landscape. The creative adventure was filmed and will be available to view for free on the Green Space Dark Skies website soon after the event.
Lumenators were also joined by choirs, movers and drummers. The creative team included composer and choir director Katie Richardson, who worked with a mass choir featuring participants from local community choirs from the Greater Belfast area. The choir premiered a new piece of music written and composed by Katie Richardson called: “Darkness Before the Dawn.” Movement director Fleur Mellor worked with community groups of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to animate the space with a series of movement pieces to help reveal the beauty of the natural space and give those participating a really fun experience in the process. Eight drummers from The Beat also performed onsite.
Green Space Dark Skies will enable people from all walks of life to forge new connections with the countryside by supporting those who experience cultural and physical barriers to access. The gatherings celebrate the countryside, people’s right to explore it as well as encouraging our responsibility to take care of it for future generations.
Lumenators have been encouraged to share their own connections to the landscape and the local areas through Green Space Stories, a free online story archive, that with the short films will form a valuable legacy for anyone interested in our relationship with land and our responsibilities to the landscape.
Walk the Plank has been working with representatives from Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and a number of creative partners in Northern Ireland to develop some of the major public engagement for Green Space Dark Skies. They are also working with the National Trust as creative and delivery partners in three of the Northern Ireland locations. The Green Space Dark Skies team has also been working with Dark Skies representatives to explore how the project might highlight the value of minimising light pollution in our towns, cities and rural landscapes to support wildlife to flourish.
Green Space Dark Skies features events in all four nations of the UK. 20,000 people from Cairngorms to The Chilterns, Gower to the Broads and Dartmoor to the Causeway Coast, are being recruited to create large-scale outdoor artworks in 20 of the UK’s most outstanding landscapes. The next NI events are Sperrin AONB (25 June)and Causeway Coast AONB (2 July) with a grand finale in September, more details soon.
Green Space Dark Skies is one of 10 major creative projects commissioned by UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, a celebration of creativity taking place across the UK in 2022, designed to reach millions and bring people together. UNBOXED features free large-scale events, installations and globally accessible digital experiences in the UK’s most ambitious showcase of creative collaboration.
Outdoor art experts Walk the Plank are the lead creative organisation in the production of Green Space Dark Skies. John Wassell, Creative Producer said:
“Green Space Dark Skies is about class and landscape, race and landscape, disability and landscape. We want to build more countryside stewards for the future, and to inspire more people to see the connection between their use and enjoyment of the land and our care for the planet. The moment when darkness falls, and we switch the lights off, is going to be the most important collective act of connection between people and nature within each event.”
Kathy Hayes, Walk the Plank Co-Producer for Green Space Dark Skies Northern Ireland, added:
“ Green Space Dark Skies is a very exciting, inspiring and highly creative project. Through close local collaborations and partnerships we make sure that everyone involved will not only enjoy participating but that it leaves a lasting legacy. We hope the Lumenators involved in Giant’s Ring enjoyed the experience and we would encourage anyone who would like to take part to watch the forthcoming film and sign up now to avoid missing out on this experience in our other NI locations.”
Martin Green CBE, Chief Creative Officer of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK said:
“Green Space Dark Skies perfectly demonstrates the innovation and creativity we have seen harnessed through the development of the ten UNBOXED projects to explore new ideas for a better future. By engaging artists, engineers, landowners and members of the public to create a series of unique experiences, Green Space Dark Skies will both enhance people’s understanding of our natural environment and relationship to the countryside as well as show the power of creativity to inspire change.”
UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK is funded and supported by the four governments of the UK and is commissioned and delivered in partnership with Belfast City Council, Creative Wales and EventScotland. If you would like to take part in Green Space Dark Skies register at https://greenspacedarkskies.uk/get-involved/
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