Green Space Dark Skies in Dartmoor and Exmoor

Download the full 'Green Space Dark Skies in Dartmoor and Exmoor' press release (PDF)

Outdoor arts company Walk the Plank will be working with local people and community groups to bring these accessible gatherings to life in Dartmoor and Exmoor. Circus arts company Extraordinary Bodies will be working with local community groups and artists to create the artwork for Dartmoor National Park. The artworks will be created at dusk on one day by local participants, referred to as Lumenators. Guided along pathways or waterways carrying smart lights, these gatherings will be captured on film for all to see afterwards.

This year 20,000 people, from the Cairngorms to The Chilterns, Gower to North York Moors and Dartmoor to the Causeway Coast of Northern Ireland, are being recruited to become Lumenators for Green Space Dark Skies. They will be part of 20 largescale outdoor artworks in the UK’s most outstanding landscapes as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, from April to September 2022.

The Dartmoor and Exmoor gatherings will be accessible and easy to reach and everyone is welcome to register for free to take part in the artwork.

To protect these amazing places, only people who have registered will be taking part and the locations will not be revealed to the general public. The gatherings will not have spectators, but anyone can take part as long as they sign up in advance; however everyone will be able to watch the films that will be specially created, online afterwards.

Participants will each be given a smart light developed specially by Siemens, and this enables the digital choreography to be captured on film, while also being sensitive to the night-time environment. Each short film will incorporate the stories of the people and places featured and will be broadcast online after the event. Lumenators will also be encouraged to share their own connections to the landscape and the local areas as part of their involvement.