UNBOXED Northern Ireland volunteers

Download the full 'UNBOXED Northern Ireland volunteers' press release (PDF)

• Two once-in-a-lifetime volunteering and participation opportunities

• The projects are Our Place in Space, a scale version of our solar system, designed by artist Oliver Jeffers and produced by Nerve Centre Collective and Green Space Dark Skies a project that will create large-scale outdoor artworks in some of the region's Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

From the Causeway Coast to Divis and Black Mountain Belfast, thousands of people are needed to bring to life two of Northern Ireland’s largest creative projects, travelling the solar system as an Our Place in Space Local Legend or creating mass participation artworks in the landscape of Northern Ireland as a Green Space Dark Skies Lumenator and igniting a passion for our Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Our Place in Space and Green Space Dark Skies, are two projects that form part of the UK’s most ambitious celebration of creativity, UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK.

Our Place in Space, produced by Nerve Centre Collective, is an epic scale model of the solar system designed by internationally renowned artist and children’s author Oliver Jeffers, incorporating a 10km three-dimensional sculpture trail that will light up pathways in Derry~Londonderry, Belfast, Cambridge and the North Down Coast from April through to October this year. The project also includes an interactive AR app, and major learning and events programmes.

Executive Producer at the Nerve Centre, David Lewis says: “We really want as many people as possible to become involved in Our Place in Space not just to enhance the experience for others but to have an unforgettable experience themselves. We have a variety of volunteering positions available across lots of different areas in each of the places where the Sculpture Trail will exhibit with commitment requiring as little as two hours a week.”

Volunteering positions with Our Place in Space are available in each of the sculpture trail locations, including Local Legends to help welcome and inform visitors, Backpack Heroes to support school and community group tours of the interactive planetary experience, and Green Team to take on litter picks and clean-ups before and after the trail is installed.

Green Space Dark Skies will see thousands of people across Northern Ireland gather at Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Referred to as Lumenators, participants will be guided along pathways or waterways carrying smart lights that will enable digital choreography captured on film, while also being sensitive to the night-time environment. To protect these amazing places, the exact locations will only be revealed to the Lumenators who have registered to take part. There will be no spectators, but anyone can take part for free as long as they sign up in advance. 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.

Green Space Dark Skies’ aim is to enable people from all walks of life to forge new connections with the countryside by supporting those with cultural and physical barriers to experience our Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Green Space Dark Skies places environmental and social sustainability at the heart of its design and delivery; highlighting the value of the natural environment as a core purpose and delivering significant measurable positive impact.

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.”