INVOLVING some of the brightest minds in science, technology, engineering, the arts and maths, next year's Unboxed: Creativity in the UK events will feature 10 major, multi-site and digital creative projects taking place from March 1 to October 2 across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Five commissions in Unboxed's programme will bring events to sites across Northern Ireland.
Designed by artist and children's author Oliver Jeffers with support from leading astrophysicist Professor Stephen Smartt and featuring music by the award-winning Die Hexen, Our Place in Space will find a scale version of the solar system staged across 10km sculptural trails, from Derry to Divis and Black Mountain in Belfast and to the Transport Museum and the North Down Coastal Path, as well as a riverside location in Cambridge.
Produced by Derry's Nerve Centre, the commission will include an interactive augmented reality app and learning and events programmes, inviting the public to consider their relationships with each other from the perspective of 'our place in space'.
Oliver Jeffers explains: "For centuries, we've defined ourselves by who we are and who we're not. Which side we choose, on what ground we stand, who and what we fight for. A human story, that lives merely in human minds.
"But with distance comes perspective. Our Place in Space is a playful experiment that asks: What is the difference between 'us' and 'them'? What happens to your perspective on everything when you look back at Earth from space?"
Derry is also one of several locations for About Us, which will immerse audiences in 13.8 billion years of history from the Big Bang to the present day using innovative 3D projection mapping technology combined with poetry, music and science.
StoryTrails will find augmented reality, new developments in 3D internet technology and young creatives shaping an ambitious living history and archive project across 15 towns and cities including Omagh.
Audiences in Belfast will be immersed in sound and light with Dreamachine, an artwork experienced with closed eyes that 'explores the limitless potential of the human mind'.
Green Space Dark Skies will invite 20,000 people across the UK to create vast outdoor artworks, lighting up some of our outstanding landscapes using new technology 'to create compelling online experiences'.
Martin Green CBE, Chief Creative Officer, Unboxed: Creativity in the UK, says: "Hundreds of creatives from across science, technology, engineering, arts and maths are creating extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime events and online experiences for millions in the UK's biggest and most ambitious public creative programme to date.
"Unboxed represents an unprecedented and timely opportunity for people to come together across the UK and beyond, taking part in awe-inspiring projects that speak to who we are while exploring the ideas that will define our futures."
:: More information at unboxed2022.uk
