Suggestions for Stargazing

Suggestions for Stargazing, commissioned by Household Belfast was part of the night time festival Red Sky at Night, which embraced the darkness by opening up city spaces to the public at night, inviting audiences to see their city in a new light. The piece was part of my long term research project called Right to the Night. Over an 18 month period, I engaged with astronomers, writers, environmentalists, council workers and residents of Belfast to draw attention to light pollution and advocate for darker skies.

For this trail at the Waterworks Park, in North Belfast I posed a series of questions, prompts and instructions, using signage, that encouraged people to connect to the environment of the Waterworks park, look up to the night sky, and take civic action to reduce light pollution in their own area. The work was originally only intended to be installed for the weekend of the festival but due to its popularity it remained on sitr for 6 months. I also did 2 night time park walks handing out November’s Lunar Calendar zine as part of the project. https://www.householdbelfast.co.uk/suggestions-for-stargazing

Suggestions for Stargazing was part of Red Sky at Night for the Belfast 2024 celebrations and is generously supported by Belfast City Council. Project identify was developed by Shesaid Design. Right to the Night was originally developed as part of a BCC funded Community Takeovers project.

Red Sky at Night was a night-time festival of new art commissions by international artists Zuza Golińska (Poland), Kanich Khajohnsri (Thailand), Kasper Lecnim & Irmina Rusicka (Poland), Dina Mimi (Palestine), Aisling O’Beirn (Ireland) and Leandros Ntolas (Greece), curated by Household. Artworks were installed at six unique locations across the city: Riddel's Warehouse (Dina Mimi), the Palm House (Kanich Khajohnsri), Carlisle Memorial Church (Leandros Ntolas) - Bank of Ireland (Zuza Golińska) - 2RA (Irmina Rusicka & Kasper Lecnim), and the Waterworks Park (Aisling O’Beirn). Red Sky at Night was part of the Belfast 2024 celebrations, supported by Belfast City Council, British Council, and the Mondriaan Fundation.