A UNIQUE sculpture trail is set to arrive in Northern Ireland this month – offering the chance to experience a journey through an epic scale model of the solar system.
Exploring what it means to live life on planet Earth, Our Place in Space offers a three-dimensional expedition through the solar system.
Incorporating a 10km sculpture trail and an interactive AR app, the super-squashed solar system installation, at a scale of 591million to one, will be in Co. Down from from February 24 to March 26.
The Our Place in Space trail opens on February 26Beginning at the Ulster Transport Museum in County Down, Our Place in Space will follow a newly installed pathway, opening onto the scenic North Down Coastal Path.
It then stretches through the beauty spot of Crawfordsburn Country Park, finishing on the pier in the seaside town of Bangor.
To date, over 300,000 people in Derry, Belfast, Cambridge and Liverpool have experienced Our Place in Space.
The North Down installation offers one final opportunity to wander around the giant mini solar system along with the stunning locations of the North Down Coastal Path.
The installation features scale models of the Sun and planets, recreated as contemporary art sculptures.
Colourful arches house each planet with an arrow and the name of the planet lit up in Las Vegas style lights.
Colourful arches house each planet along the solar system trailOur Place in Space is part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, a celebration of creativity taking place across the UK.
It was created by a team led by acclaimed artist and children’s author Oliver Jeffers, who grew up in Belfast but is now based in New York.
He worked with a team that includes award-winning composer, producer and sound artist Die Hexen, and astrophysicist Professor Stephen Smartt of Queen’s University Belfast.
They were joined by the Nerve Centre, a leading creative media arts organisation based in Derry, where the trail was first installed in April 2022.
The sculpture trail is free to explore and is accompanied by a programme of learning activities and special live and virtual events.
In North Down, Our Place in Space will be located along a public walkway which is accessible to pushchairs and wheelchairs, with ‘trail guardians’ positioned at the start of every interplanetary journey to provide information and equip trail-goers with a map.
North Down Coastal Path is one of the most popular walks in Northern Ireland, while Crawfordsburn Country Park is home to two excellent beaches, spectacular scenery and views across Belfast Lough.
