Ever fancied yourself as the next Buzz Aldrin, Chris Hadfield or Nicole Stott?
Organisers behind Our Place in Space, a 10km sculpture trail of the solar system designed by artist Oliver Jeffers, are giving wannabe astronauts the chance to make their dream a reality.
On Saturday 23 April in Bay Road Park, the Nerve Centre, producers of Our Place in Space, are attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as astronauts.
Open to space travellers of all ages, this is your chance to be involved in a cosmic mission and become a world record breaker. The current world record is 257 astronauts, held by Sea Mills Primary School in Bristol.
The spacesuits worn must meet strict criteria as set out by Guinness World Records. To make sure the spacesuits are mission ready, Our Place in Space will be hosting a series of workshops leading up to the attempt, providing you all with the materials needed to create your own costume.
Astronauts will then gather at Bay Road Park at midday on Saturday 23 April, a day after the sculpture trail officially opens, to take part in the out of this world record attempt.
Ground control on the day will be led by Mark Langtry, TV presenter and Head of Science at Explorium – Ireland’s National Science Centre. There will also be circus performers, special guests and spot prizes for some of the best costumes.
Bronagh McFeely, Senior Producer with Our Place in Space, said “The opening weekend for the Our Place in Space sculpture trail includes a packed programme of events and activities for everyone to take part in and enjoy. We all know how much people in Derry~Londonderry love to get dressed up and to set new records so we’re encouraging as many people as possible to come along and help set a new record for the city.”
To register your interest and for more information log on to www.ourplaceinspace.earth.
Our Place in Space is part of UNBOXED, a celebration of creativity taking place across the UK in 2022, designed to reach millions of people.
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CAPTION: CALLING ALL WANNABE ASTRONAUTS An out of this world record attempt will be taking place at midday on Saturday 23 April, on the Bay Park Road Derry – Londonderry when organisers, The Nerve Centre, are attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the most people dressed as astronauts. Open to space travellers of all ages, this is your chance to be involved in a cosmic mission and become a world breaker. Target to beat is 257 astronauts. Ground-control will be led by Mark Langtry, TV presenter and Head of Science at Explorium - Ireland's National Science Centre. The world record attempt is part of the opening weekend of Our Place in Space; a 10km 3D sculpture trail recreating the solar system on earth. Our Place in space launches in Derry on 22 April and will run at various locations including Divis and the Black Mountain and the North Down Coastal path until 16 October.
For more information, images and to set up interviews contact:
Lyn Sheridan | lyn@aikenpr.com
Ali Knox | ali@aikenpr.com / 07966983336
NOTES TO EDITORS
Our Place in Space is an epic scale model of the solar system designed by artist and children’s author Oliver Jeffers, incorporating a 10km three-dimensional sculpture trail in Northern Ireland and Cambridge, an interactive AR app, and major learning and events programmes. 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 around the globe, Our Place in Space invites participants to consider how we might better share and protect our planet in future. It brings our solar system down to Earth and sends us soaring into the stars to find new perspectives and reconsider what it means to live life on Earth.
UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK is a celebration of creativity taking place across the UK in 2022, designed to reach millions and bring people together. It features free large-scale events, installations and globally accessible digital experiences in the UK’s most ambitious showcase of creative collaboration. Produced by some of the brightest minds in science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, UNBOXED features ten major multi-site and digital creative projects that share new ideas and possibilities for the future. Events and activities take place from 1 March to 2 October 2022 – from the Outer Hebrides to Dover and from Omagh to Swansea, and across traditional and online media. UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK is funded and supported by the four governments of the UK and is commissioned and delivered in partnership with Belfast City Council, Creative Wales and EventScotland.
Oliver Jeffers is a visual artist and author working in painting, bookmaking, illustration, collage, performance, and sculpture. Curiosity and humour are underlying themes throughout Jeffers’ practice as an artist and storyteller. While investigating the ways the human mind understands its world, his work also functions as comic relief in the face of futility. Jeffers’ engagements and practice are truly international in scope. His critically acclaimed picture books have been translated into over fifty languages and sold over 14 million copies worldwide. His original artwork has been exhibited at such institutions as the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Palais Auersperg in Vienna. Jeffers has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award, Bologna Rigazzi Award, An Irish Book Award, and a United Kingdom Literary Association Award. Oliver grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he currently lives.
The Nerve Centre is Northern Ireland’s leading creative media arts centre with a vision of ‘changing live through creative technologies and the arts’. More than 120,000 people a year benefit from a wide-ranging programme of arts events, innovative projects, creative learning, and production facilities. A successful social enterprise, the Nerve Centre employs 50 staff in Derry~Londonderry and Belfast. At an educational level, the Nerve Centre has developed the Creative Learning Centre model, empowering teachers and community learners to engage with creative technologies to unlock learning in the curriculum.
The Nerve Centre’s artistic output has gained an international reputation with Oscar and BAFTA nominations, and an ongoing collaboration with visual artist Willie Doherty, twice nominated for the Turner Prize.
