NewsDarren Aronofsky, Chelsea Clinton and Brian Schmidt among contributors announced for Our Place festival
Major names across science, film, music and the arts will take part in a week-long festival in Belfast this summer
Our Place in Space has announced a packed programme of free events taking place at venues across Belfast from 27 June – 3 July, including Nobel Prize winner Brian Schmidt, global health advocate Chelsea Clinton, Academy Award nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and electronic producer and DJ David Holmes.
Planned to coincide with the Our Place in Space sculpture trail at Divis and the Black Mountain, the Our Place Festival will see leading names from across science, music, film and the arts converge on Belfast for a celebration of creativity.
Our Place in Space is part of UNBOXED: Creativity, and is a unique collaboration across art, science and technology – an epic scale model of the solar system designed by artist and children’s author Oliver Jeffers, incorporating a 10km three-dimensional sculpture trail. The project also includes an interactive AR app, and major learning and events programmes.
Highlights from the festival include Space is the Place, an evening of electronic music at Banana Block curated by David Holmes and featuring performances by Space Dimension Controller, Die Hexen and Chris Frieze; award-winning filmmaker Darren Aronofsky in conversation at the QFT; Nobel Prize winning cosmologist and discoverer of dark energy Professor Brian Schmidt with Professor Professor Lucie Green; an evening with acclaimed graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister at The MAC; and a takeover of the Ulster Museum by the Nerve Centre’s Reimagine Remake Replay project.
Other events taking place throughout the festival include a film programme in partnership with Docs Ireland, a live performance art event with Mac Premo, a series of astrophysics talks with Queen’s University, Belfast, a special screening of Oliver Jeffers’ Here We Are at The Strand Cinema, and a collaboration with the Tenx9 storytelling programme at the Black Box.
Away from the city, Divis and the Black Mountain will host a special event to mark the summer solstice on 21 June with an evening of sound, film and performance and visitors to the sculpture trail will be able to take part in nature walks and nature circus performances.
“We’re excited to have commissioned such an eclectic programme of cultural events for the city this summer, including some world class speakers and home grown talent like Belfast artist Oliver Jeffers and Belfast music producer David Holmes, who have achieved global acclaim. This fusion of art and science is bound to be both inspiring and entertaining and will encourage us all to explore our place in the world – and the universe – in new and enriching ways.”
Our Place in Space is Northern Ireland’s project for UNBOXED: Creativity, and commissioned by Belfast City Council. The team behind the project is led by the Nerve Centre and includes artists Oliver Jeffers and Die Hexen, award-winning scientist Professor Stephen Smartt from the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen’s University Belfast, as well as National Museums NI, NI Science Festival, Big Motive, Taunt, Microsoft, Dumbworld and Live Music Now.
Our Place in Space sculpture trail launches at Divis and the Black Mountain in Belfast on 11 June, Cambridge in July and finally moves to the Ulster Transport Museum and North Down coastal path in September.
For more information and to book free tickets visit the events page.
“Our Place in Space is engaging people in the worlds of science, technology, engineering, maths and the arts. The Our Place Festival brings iconic names from across the world to Belfast and champions the use of creativity to explore the universe and our place in it. We’re excited to work with Oliver Jeffers to programme a festival that will hopefully spark new insights and perspectives for everyone who takes part.”
