{"id":19606,"date":"2021-08-19T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=19606"},"modified":"2021-08-18T12:50:23","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T11:50:23","slug":"cnb21-presents-the-ogham-grove-at-writers-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2021\/08\/cnb21-presents-the-ogham-grove-at-writers-square\/","title":{"rendered":"CNB21 Presents The Ogham Grove At Writer\u2019s Square"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Immersive and thought provoking installation forms CNB21 offering<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creative team behind this year\u2019s Culture Night Belfast installation have revealed ambitious plans to create a vast structural, lighting and sound show that will fill the Cathedral Quarter\u2019s Writer\u2019s Square next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belfast artist Gawain Morrison and his team will turn Writer\u2019s Square into The Ogham Grove, a monumental, immersive sculpture and accompanying digital trail which will create a whole new experience for Belfast. Susan Picken, director of Culture Night Belfast and the Cathedral Quarter Trust, said the plans Gawain has presented are \u201cspectacular\u201d and will \u201cprovide a very unique experience to each person who visits throughout the weekend\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added: \u201cGawain and his team of artists will transform Writer\u2019s Square with a totally innovative and spectacular artwork that will invite visitors  to explore the relationship with our native woodlands and the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ogham Grove really tapped into our concern for the environment and the devastating impact of climate change. It also restates our commitment to support and work with our incredible cultural and creative sectors here in NI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a significant moment for CNB, not only is this our first large-scale artists\u2019 commission but it also signals an exciting new format for the event as we move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept for The Ogham Grove takes inspiration from the ancient Celtic Ogham Tree Alphabet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwo monumental sculptures will be built in Writers\u2019 Square, with themes drawn from our ancestral heritage and culture here on the island of Ireland\u201d explained Gawain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Tree Alphabet will act as the primer for learning about the Ogham characters, their meanings, and their tree associations while the Celtic Ogham Year Wheel signifies the links with our natural environment, living in harmony with it, and the awareness of our place in the universe, the lunar and solar cycles that drive the life on this planet of ours, and all of how life lives\u2013in balance and together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Ogham Grove offers a window into an alternative interpretation of the world around us, highlighting the importance that nature played in the societies of our ancestors, enabling us to reconnect with this heritage in a playful, thought provoking and visually stunning way, at a time when the natural environment and spending time outdoors has never been so important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the pandemic, Culture Night had been one of Belfast\u2019s largest free events, a cultural celebration that attracted almost 90,000 local, national and international visitors to the Cathedral Quarter and Belfast city centre. The impact of COVID has led to a major review of the event however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan added: \u201cCulture Night 2021 will be much smaller in scale and scope and will take the form of an on-site installation that people can drop into and enjoy over the course of the weekend \u2013 this different format will allow us to focus on safety as well as making sure everyone has a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gawain alongside his team, including artist and prop designer Dylan McCaughtry, designer, artist and engineer Neil Beattie, lighting designer Tom\u00e1s FitzGerald and drum loop producer Damian Mills said the installation they are planing will leave visitors with \u201ca monumental audio-visual experience that will be overwhelming both day and night.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cThe actual scale of the structure itself will be impressive. The fact that at night-time the lighting will come alive will give it a very different feel from the daytime and allow people to experience it in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2021 edition of Culture Night will have a completely new format and a new approach designed for a COVID-safe, post-pandemic environment. A major difference this year is the decision to suspend the previous open submission programme and instead focus on creating one central experience working directly with artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the biggest changes this year will be that we haven\u2019t run an open programme for submissions as in previous years\u201d said Susan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan continued \u201cThere won\u2019t be the usual on-street activity or pop-ups that people are used to. Instead, Writer\u2019s Square will be transformed with an exciting monumental installation, The Ogham Grove, running from Friday September 17 to Sunday September 19. This extended running time will allow more time and space to visit and experience over the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This will be a unique and sensory experience for anyone attending and will make for great photo opportunities” added Gawain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s Culture Night Belfast is supported by Belfast City Council, Arts Council for Northern Ireland, Tourism NI, Belfast Harbour Commissioners and Translink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To keep up to date with all the CNB Presents The Ogham Grove updates go to <\/em><\/strong>culturenightbelfast.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a> or follow #CNB21 on social media.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Immersive and thought provoking installation forms CNB21 offering The creative team behind this year\u2019s Culture Night Belfast installation have revealed ambitious plans to create a vast structural, lighting and sound show that will fill the Cathedral Quarter\u2019s Writer\u2019s Square next month. Belfast artist Gawain Morrison and his team will turn Writer\u2019s Square into The Ogham … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19606"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19609,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19606\/revisions\/19609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}