Our Place in Space is Ready for Launch

Centred around an epic scale model of the solar system designed by the artist Oliver Jeffers with support from leading astrophysicist Professor Stephen Smartt, Our Place in Space combines a three-dimensional sculpture trail, interactive AR app and exciting learning and events programmes.

Coming in 2022, the sculpture trail will stretch over 10 kilometres and will travel from a riverside location in Derry~Londonderry (April / May) to Divis and Black Mountain in Belfast (June / July), before heading to Cambridge (August) and returning to Northern Ireland at the Transport Museum and North Down Coastal Path (September / October).

Artist Oliver Jeffers said: “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?”

The team behind Our Place in Space is led by Nerve Centre and includes artists Oliver Jeffers and Die Hexen, 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, Jeffers & Sons, University of Cambridge, Dumbworld, Live Music Now, Little Inventors, and Urban Scale Interventions.

Location partners include Derry City & Strabane District Council, National Trust, Cambridge City Council and Ards & North Down Borough Council.

David Lewis, Executive Producer at the Nerve Centre, said: “Our Place in Space is an exciting collaboration between some of our finests minds in science, technology and the arts.”

‘From creating a star to writing a symphony for the universe, inventing a new form of transport, building a Minecraft planet or connecting with space watchers in Vietnam or Iraq, Our Place in Space invites participants to look at our solar system in a different way – exploring what it means to live on Earth in 2022, and how we might better share and protect our planet in future.’

Our Place in Space is Northern Ireland’s project for UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, commissioned by Belfast City Council.