News

Fifty years on from the first moon landing, Arts by the Sea has joined forces with Inside Out and b-side festivals to present Dorset Moon, an exciting new addition to the 2019 Summer calendar.

Locations:

St Peter’s Church, Bournemouth, 28- 30 June. A beautiful location in the middle of the town centre.

Sherborne Abbey 5- 7 July.  ‘Dorset’s Own Cathedral’, a masterpiece in a quintessential rural Dorset town.

Nothe Fort, Weymouth, 12-14 July. A historical fort on the World Heritage Site of the Jurassic Coast.

The centrepiece to Dorset Moon events is Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon, an astounding seven metre diameter spherical sculpture on which each centimetre represents five kilometres of the moon surface. This incredible installation is a fusion of large-scale NASA lunar imagery, moonlight and surround sound audio created by Ivor Novello Award and BAFTA-winning composer Dan Jones.

All Dorset Moon events are completely FREE and will have a selection of high-quality participation events that visitors can enjoy that are unique to each individual venue.

Dorset Moon is presented by the Dorset Festivals Consortium:

• Arts by the Sea festival
• Inside Out Dorset (produced by Activate)
• b-side 

Commissioned by the Arts Development Company with funding from European Regional Development Fund and Arts Council England.

On 7th April 2019, Dorset Moon announced it has commissioned seven new art and performance pieces that will also be FREE to enjoy. They will be part of a series of events called ‘Under The Moon’ that will compliment Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon in each of its spectacular locations.

All commissions are by artists based in the South, four of which are from Dorset and one a graduate of Arts University Bournemouth.

“Dorset Moon has presented a wonderful opportunity to commission new work from homegrown artists that will bring exciting new cultural experiences for residents and visitors alike. The new commissions are all different and from artists at varying stages of their careers. We are delighted that several Dorset-based artists are presenting work in the programme. We hope to create a different feel to each of the three locations.”

Kate Wood, Executive & Artistic Director of Inside Out Dorset that is curating Dorset Moon in collaboration with Arts By the Sea and b-side festivals.

 

 

The new commissions are:

Laura Reid – Celestial Bodies

Experience this at Bournemouth and Weymouth venues.

Celestial Bodies is a soundtrack for the Dorset Moon. Transmitted by silent disco, the listener is taken on a sonic journey moving through ethereal soundscapes, words and beats.

R&D Studio with Hemabharathy Palani – A Small Dream

Experience this at Bournemouth, Sherborne and Weymouth venues.

The story of a tiny Indian robot bound for the moon. Each show will be different and each will work alone. But by viewing all three, you will be able to track the developing story of a tiny female robot on her perilous 400,000-kilometre journey from the Earth to the moon. Lost in space the lone traveller confronts her own dreams and upon landing a new reality. A Small Dream is inspired by India’s real lunar ambitions and the rover they have created. It combines outdoor theatre, dance and projection.

Matilda Skelton-Mace – Earth Module

Experience this at Bournemouth, Sherborne and Weymouth venues.

A multifaceted dome structure inside an otherwise non-descript tent with room for one or two people. Using infinity mirror effects and subtle, organic lighting patterns to evoke the night sky, its form is inspired by the interior of the Apollo 11 lunar module. The work plays with scale in a way which complements the Museum of the Moon.

George Roberts – Then This Is The Moon

Experience this at Bournemouth, Sherborne and Weymouth venues.

Mounted on a steel plinth a battered VR headset inspired by Eugene Cernan’s Apollo 17 helmet – the last to view the Moon – houses a 150-second immersive digital experience that chronicles our ever-changing relationship with space.

Helen Ottaway – Wind and Unwind

Experience this at Sherborne Abbey.

New work for musical box and voice by Helen Ottaway, performed by Helen Ottaway (musical box) and Melanie Pappenheim (voice). Part of a new Requiem she is writing in memory of her mother who died in 2017. Working with themes of absence and the movement of the tides; drawing on the traditions of English folk song and liturgical music and collaborating with singer Melanie Pappenheim she will unwind a ribbon of sound and movement, a homage to the moon in the beautiful setting of Sherborne Abbey.

Ra Zamora – Call of the Wild

Experience this in Bournemouth, Sherborne and Weymouth venues.

‘The Call of the Wild’ is a sound installation inspired by the Wolf howl. Ra Zamora intends to create a Primordial experience to transport people to the wild corners of their psyche, whilst feeling the life force and restorative effect of the male and female wolves howling alone and then merging together.

Carrie Mason – Pledge

Experience this at Bournemouth and Weymouth venues.

A short performance of collective drawing made by audience participation, Pledge is inspired by Neil Armstrong’s iconic words as the artist wearing hobnail boots takes repetitive small steps to crush Dorset lump charcoal into fine dust then pledging to reduce their carbon footprint before taking a giant leap onto an adjacent canvas and inviting the audience to follow suit. The total performance lasts one hour 57 minutes, the duration of the first moonwalk.

 

 

A reminder of the Dorset Moon dates:

Friday 28 – Sunday 30  June,  War Memorial, Central Gardens, Bournemouth

Friday 5 – Sunday 7  July,  Sherborne Abbey, Sherborne

Friday 12 – Sunday 14  July,  Nothe Fort, Weymouth

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE

Visit our dedicated Dorset Moon website for all the latest moon events and news – https://dorsetmoon.com/

 

All events are Family Friendly and set in extraordinary locations that merit further exploration.

The spectacular venues really add to what will be, a stunning visual experience for the whole family to enjoy. A perfect reason to linger in a beautiful part of England’s world-renowned South Coast.

 

Luke Jerram’s Museum on the Moon

Museum of the Moon is a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. Measuring seven metres in diameter, the moon features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. At an approximate scale of 1:500,000, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 5km of the moon’s surface*.

The installation is a fusion of lunar imagery, moonlight and surround sound composition created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones. Each venue also programmes their own series lunar inspired events beneath the moon.

From the beginning of human history, the moon has acted as a ‘cultural mirror’ to our beliefs, understanding and ways of seeing. Over the centuries, the moon has been interpreted as a god and as a planet. It has been used as a timekeeper, calendar and to aid night time navigation. Throughout history, the moon has inspired artists, poets, scientists, writers and musicians the world over. The ethereal blue light cast by a full moon, the delicate crescent following the setting sun, or the mysterious dark side of the moon has evoked passion and exploration. Different cultures around the world have their own historical, cultural, scientific and religious relationships to the moon.

Museum of the Moon allows us to observe and contemplate cultural similarities and differences around the world and consider the latest moon science. Depending on where the artwork is presented, its meaning and interpretation will shift. Through local research at each location of the artwork, new stories and meanings will be collected and compared from one presentation to the next.