NEST is part of the Cultural Olympiad’s London 2012 Festival and is also the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Artist’s Taking the Lead commission for Northern Ireland – an initiative by all four Arts Councils of the UK to create public art for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“NEST is a an extraordinary and beautiful study of life in Northern Ireland – a strange and unusual ‘census’ that brings together thousands of individual possessions, thoughts, words, sounds and voices for the making of a single landscape, a single sound, a single NEST’
Brian Irvine & John McIlduff: Artistic Directors of Nest
NEST has involved the people of Northern Ireland making art on a massive scale through the simple act of donating an object, telling a story or performing as part of a large community chorus. Almost 2000 objects have been donated by people of all ages and from all walks of in Northern Ireland. Attached to all donated objects is a handwritten label that reveals some personal story, history or commentary associated with each person’s object. These objects have been formed into a massive public art installation inside a huge warehouse called T13, located in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter opposite the new Titanic visitors centre. An unusual ‘census’, NEST is a collection of hidden personal moments – a moving and revealing portrait of the people that make up Northern Ireland.
Central to the installation is a performance of a new oratorio composed by Brian Irvine, performed by the 90 young players that make up the Ulster Youth Orchestra and a specially formed community chorus made up of 200 singers of all ages and backgrounds brought together from different corners of Northern Ireland.
Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented: “This is an arts project unlike any other in both ambition and scale. By donating personal items and singing in the large community choir thousands of local people have already contributed to the many stories which make up the final installation, while the live musical element performed by some of Northern Ireland’s most talented musicians will add another unique dimension to this epic project.”
On Saturday 21st July at 4pm precisely the doors to this extraordinary exhibition will open. The first visitors, VIPs and special guests will assemble in anticipation outside the T13 warehouse from 3pm onwards. The new oratorio will be performed while the first visitors make their way through the exhibition that occupies over one acre of floor space. The orchestra and choir will perform for the second time at 8pm when the second wave of visitors arrive. The exhibition is FREE, but due to high demand, visitors on the first day must have reserved their FREE tickets via the project’s website www.2012nest.com
No tickets are required between 22nd and 29th July when the exhibition will be open daily from 12pm – 8pm. Smaller scale impromptu musical interventions will occur during this period and the installation will run continuously from 4pm on the 21st July until 8pm on 29th July 2012. Exhibition catalogues that contain the full list of donated objects and accompanying stories, as well as details of people and groups involved in the creation of NEST will be on sale during the exhibition.
For more information on NEST contact Cathie McKimm, Project Manager, on 07874 023528 or e-mail info@2012nest.com. Regular updates on the event can be found at www.2012nest.com or on Facebook (nest2012) or twitter (2012nest).