Dorset Moon
Luke Jerram
Co-produced by Dorset Festivals Consortium

Fifty years on from the first moon landing, Inside Out Dorset Festival (which Activate produce) joined forces with b-side festival and Bournemouth Arts by the Sea to present Dorset Moon. This was made possible by the Arts Development Company who commissioned Dorset Moon using funding from The European Regional Development Fund and Arts Council England.
An astonishing 41,000 visitors attended Dorset Moon events and 27% of those were visitors to the county.
The centrepiece to Dorset Moon events was 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 were FREE and had a selection of high-quality participation events that visitors could experience, unique to each individual venue.
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.

Commissioned artworks
On 7th April 2019, Dorset Moon announced it had commissioned seven new art and performance pieces that would be FREE to enjoy. They formed a series of events called ‘Under The Moon’ to compliment Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon in each of its spectacular locations. All commissions were by artists based in the South, four of which are from Dorset and one a graduate of Arts University Bournemouth.
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Celestial Bodies Laura Reid
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.
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A Small Dream R&D Studio with Hemabharathy Palani
Bourneouth, 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.
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Earth Module Matilda Skelton-Mace
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.
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Then This Is The Moon George Roberts
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 to view the Moon – houses a 150-second immersive digital experience that chronicles our ever-changing relationship with space.
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Wind and Unwind Helen Ottaway
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.
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Call of the Wild Ra Zamora
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.
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Pledge Carrie Mason
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.
“Dorset Moon presented a wonderful opportunity to commission new work from homegrown artists that brought exciting new cultural experiences for residents and visitors alike. The new commissions were all different and from artists at varying stages of their careers. We are delighted that several Dorset-based artists presented work in the programme.” Kate Wood, Co-artistic Director of Inside Out Dorset.