A SERIES of free open-air events will celebrate the entire history of the universe from the Big Bang to present day in Derry's Guildhall Square this week.
About Us is the opening segment of this year's Unboxed: Creativity in The UK festival. Taking place daily at Guildhall Square and Waterloo Place, pop-up multimedia installations will be open from 10am to 5pm to showcase the creativity of local children and young people with poems and Scratch animations created in schools' workshops in Derry, Strabane and the surrounding area.
Every evening from 7.30pm to 10pm there will be 25-minute projection shows that promise to "take audiences on a journey through 13.8 billion years of history since the dawn of the universe" in "a celebration of the infinite ways in which we connect to the cosmos, natural world, and one another".
These will feature live projection-mapped animation with poetry, music and live choral singing, with a raft of freestanding plinths containing dynamic theatrical lighting and LED screens positioned across Guildhall Square.
Acclaimed composer and musician Nitin Sawhney has composed the original score which will be performed as part of the live shows by Codetta, in association with the City of Derry International Choir Festival. Choir performances of About Us are musically directed by composer, Osnat Schmool, who will conduct alongside local choir leaders.
Lysander Ashton, Director of 59 Productions and Project Director for About Us, said: "About Us has been a unique collaborative process bringing together poets, scientists, musicians, visual artists and school children from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
"All of these unique voices have contributed to create a dazzlingly rich composite view of the extraordinary universe we all share.
"About Us is an invitation to experience a world where you are made of stars, you're built from a trillion intricate cells working in harmony, you are related to dinosaurs and you can make a connection to a billion people with the press of a button; it's a celebration of some of the incredible things that make us, us, and I can't wait for audiences to come and see it".
About Us is on a five-stop tour from March to May 2022: it was seen by an audience of 50,000 in Paisley from March 1-6 and will move on to Caernarfon from March 30 to April 5, Luton from April 14-20 and finally Hull from April 30 to May 6.
:: About Us runs until March 21 at Guildhall Square, Derry. Daytime installations are open between 10am and 5pm, the 25-minute live shows run every evening between 7.30pm and 10pm. All events are free and un-ticketed. For more information, visit Aboutus.earth
