The trail will touch down in Liverpool from 14 October to 6 November
Liverpool has been announced as an additional stop on the UK tour of Our Place in Space, a recreation of the solar system as an 8.1 km sculpture trail designed by artist Oliver Jeffers, astrophysicist Professor Stephen Smartt and a creative team led by Nerve Centre in Derry-Londonderry.
Bringing the installation to the north west of England will give more people the chance to get involved.
The trail will touch down in Liverpool from 14 October to 6 November, before returning to Northern Ireland in February 2023 at the Ulster Transport Museum.
Beginning on Church Street in the heart of the city centre and running along the riverside all the way to Otterspool, Our Place in Space is free to visit and 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.
At a scale of 591 million to one, the Sun is 2.35 metres across, Earth is 2.2 centimetres and Pluto just 4 millimetres.
Our Place in Space is part of “UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK”, a project which aims to bring our solar system down to Earth and send us soaring into the stars to find new perspectives and reconsider what it means to live life on our planet.
The trail is accompanied by the free Our Place in Space augmented reality app, available on Apple and Android, which allows users across the world to take a journey through the solar system, experiencing the planets in augmented reality and considering 10,000 years of human history on Earth. On the trail, users are invited to collect space souvenirs, including characters from the world of Oliver Jeffers, as well as launch a personalised star into space.
#Liverpool are you ready!?! The solar system is landing 👀🚀 #OurPlaceInSpace pic.twitter.com/SbQQg9AvXM
— Our Place in Space (@ourplaceearth) October 10, 2022
David Lewis, executive producer at the Nerve Centre, said, “We are thrilled by the reaction that Our Place in Space has received during its tour of the UK in 2022 and delighted to announce Liverpool as an additional destination for the trail. Bringing the installation to the north west of England will give more people the chance to get involved, to learn about space and to experience the unique world and creativity of Oliver Jeffers.”
Our Place in Space in Liverpool coincides with the launch of a new children's book by Oliver Jeffers, Meanwhile Back on Earth. Oliver will be signing copies of his new book at Waterstones, College Lane, Liverpool on Saturday 15 October at 12 noon.
The Our Place in Space sculpture trail will no doubt be popular with joggers, walking groups and cyclists.
But if 8.1km seems a bit of a stretch, Liverpool Cycle Tours is offering the opportunity to discover the trail by electric motor-assisted E-bike. The independent tour company, which runs regular eco-friendly tours of all Liverpool's landmarks and sites, will be running Our Place in Space tours (instead of the usual South Coast Tour) from 14 October to 4 November, 7pm-9pm priced at £17pp. You can also join Liverpool Cycle Tours on two free afternoon tours in conjunction with Cycling UK on the 5 and 6 November from 2pm-4pm. Visit Liverpool Cycle Tours on social media for more info (Facebook: Liverpool Cycle Tours) or call 07986 139531 to book.
The sculpture trail will be accompanied by a programme of events and learning opportunities, including workshops, talks, art sessions, moongazing, stargazing and even a silent disco. For more information visit Our Place in Space.
Read next: Top things to do in Liverpool: October 2022
Read again: River of Light art trail returns in autumn with an 'Unexpected Twist'
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