Across the UK, 20,000 people are being recruited to create large-scale outdoor artworks, including in four of Wales’ most outstanding landscapes, for Green Space Dark Skies, part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, from April to September 2022.
The creative project is the first of its kind in Wales and will be taking place in Gower AONB (13 May), Brecon Beacons National Park (July) and Ynys Mon Anglesey (date to be announced).
The Green Space Dark Skies artworks will be created at dusk by participants, referred to as Lumenators. They will be guided along pathways or waterways carrying smart lights that have been especially designed by Siemens’ engineers and will enable digital choreography 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 Welsh landscape and the local areas as part of their involvement.
Green Space Dark Skies will enable people from all walks of life to forge new connections with the Welsh countryside by supporting those who experience cultural and physical barriers to experiencing our National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to access events. The series of gatherings will celebrate the countryside and people’s right to explore it as well as encouraging our responsibility to take care of it for future generations.
Outdoor art experts Walk the Plank are the lead creative organisation in the production of Green Space Dark Skies. Liz Pugh, Creative Producer, Wales said:
“The focus for the gatherings in Wales is shaped by the geology and the history of extraction – from the neolithic marks on the common lands of Gower to the geopark of the Brecon Beacons to the minerals under the ground on Anglesey. The short films we make in each place will tell a story specific about each location – collectively, we will illuminate how people are connecting with each place right now, in 2022. Sign up to be part of something magical, outdoors, in a place you love and want to
cherish.”
Developed by graduate engineers at Siemens specially for this project, the lighting technology uses existing wireless programmable low impact lights and incorporates something that’s never been done before: the ability for these lights to be animated through geo-positioning, where the position of each light can be known in relationship to the others; as well as the potential for this lighting technology to be adopted for use at future major outdoor events.
The Green Space Dark Skies team is working with Dark Skies representatives to explore how the project might highlight issues around light pollution in our towns, cities and rural landscapes to support wildlife to flourish.
Catherine Mealing-Jones, Chief Executive of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority said:
“We are delighted to be working with Walk the Plank on this momentous event. We hope that Green Space Dark Skies will inspire people to protect our landscape and showcase the National Park as a welcome space for all. We’re excited to see how local artists and volunteers translate the stories of the Beacons into a unique experience for all to enjoy. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how the project develops.”
The UNBOXED programme of ten UK-wide projects features free large-scale events, installations and globally accessible digital experiences produced by creatives from across science, technology, engineering, arts and maths. UNBOXED kicks-off in Wales with About Us on 31 March, a spectacular, free open-air event in Caernarfon that celebrates the entire history of the universe from the Big Bang to the present day and includes GALWAD, a project that sees Wales projected thirty years into the future across TV drama, digital platforms and live events in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea.
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.”
John Watkins, Chief Executive of the National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty said:
“The UK’s 46 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are within half an hour’s journey time for the majority of people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Green Space Dark Skies will give people a truly once in a lifetime experience and the opportunity to develop their own relationship with the nationally valued landscapes on their doorstep.
The AONB family is thrilled to be part of Green Space Dark Skies, a project committed to opening up spaces for people while protecting nature. We hope that the Lumenators will continue to return to their AONBs, benefitting from the peace and rootedness that comes with a deep connection with place, and become the environmental guardians of the future.”
Deputy Director of Creative Wales, Gerwyn Evans, said;
“We’re delighted to welcome Green Space Dark Skies to Wales as part of the UNBOXED
celebrations. Seeing the creative plans unfold is very exciting, this is a great opportunity for people to participate and get involved – and we’d encourage everyone to do so. We look forward to seeing many communities across Wales taking part in events during 2022.”
To protect these amazing places, the exact locations will only be revealed to the people 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 and everyone can watch the films of each event online.
The Green Space Dark Skies artworks in Wales are part of a UK-wide celebration of creativity. 20,000 people, from the Cairngorms to The Chilterns, Gower to North York Moors and Dartmoor to the Lagan Valley in Northern Ireland are being recruited as Lumenators.
Events will take place across the UK from 23 April with the finale in September featuring events in all four nations of the UK, more details to follow soon.
