Translink & Quotidian
The Context
Quotidian - Word on the Street believes poetry belongs everywhere, for everybody and aspires to model and experiment with ways to make literature, particularly poetry, accessible in public spaces. They partnered with Translink who are responsible for Northern Ireland’s bus and rail services.
The Challenge & The Solution
The partners on this project were looking for positive public engagement with commuters and local communities, animation of the public spaces within the train station, the opportunity to raise their profiles through PR with Belfast International Arts Festival and the positioning of Lanyon Place as a welcoming, progressive place invested in the wellbeing of the public who use the facilities.
The vision was to bring high-quality accessible art to the public in a novel way that would reinforce that public transport hubs, art, beauty and the environment belong to everyone. The Poetry Lab took place in Lanyon Place train station and involved a participatory public art project, daily performances in the station and the launch of an augmented reality app called The Pop-Up Poet. Moyra Donaldson was commissioned to write a poem about the starling murmurations that used to be such a memorable part of the Belfast skyline at the Albert Bridge near Lanyon Place station, and from that an augmented poetry reading was created. Artist Una Hickey was able to involve a diverse range of local groups, as well as travellers passing through the station, to create a collaborative art installation based on the murmuration.
The Results
The station was turned into a location where people would stay to engage in art and performance, giving a chance to find an audience for the new app and talk to them about their experience with it. The lobby of Lanyon Place was transformed during the half term break, a time when it was busy with commuters and tourists. Travellers enjoyed sitting down to make their own starlings and trying out the AR app on the iPad. The creation of the Infinity linen mural of starlings added a beautiful piece of participatory art to the world. Watching it change over the week as birds were added each day was magical, and meant the station looked a little bit different each day. The evening performances filled the station with music, and audiences came to see the acts and stopped on their way through, taking a few minutes to listen.
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‘Being at Lanyon Place, gave us unprecedented opportunity for public engagement – it reminds me so clearly why we do what we do; it was wonderful to experience the delight of live performances, to see artists, children and the staff and public light up because of the poetry, music, art and the AR experience. It was a joy!’
Maria McManus, Quotidian
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