U.S. Shoppers Getting Great Deal on “The World At Night”
Twenty-four shopping centers in 18 states are celebrating IYA2009 with free exhibitions of photographs from The World at Night (TWAN), an IYA2009 Special Project. The photographs feature international landmarks shown at night under starry skies or celestial events. This is the largest set of TWAN exhibitions in the US to date. More 20 countries on every continent have held similar exhibitions during IYA2009.
To supplement the TWAN exhibition, many of the shopping centers have added educational programs appropriate to their customers and available space. Examples include “Dancing Under the Stars”, “Movies Under the Stars” (screening “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”), a program to help Boy and Girl Scouts earn astronomy badges, a contest to win a trip to space camp, outreach partnerships with industry and with science centers like the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, science fairs, fashion shows, and children’s events such as creating constellations and building telescopes.
The exhibitions are a collaboration between the centers’ owner, Developers Diversified Realty, and TWAN’s parent organization, U.S.-based Astronomers Without Borders.
The starry night above Yellow Stone National Park, Wyoming. The yellow patch in the foreground is an eruption of Old Faithful Geyser, a strong cone geyser that can shoot 14,000–32,000 liters of boiling water to a height of 30–55 meters. Photo Credit: Wally Pacholka Astropics.com/TWAN
TWAN exhibitions are created individually to enhance programs at museums and in public spaces with eye-catching images produced by TWAN’s team of specialized photographers. Exhibitions can be shown either indoors or outdoors, alone or in conjunction with other IYA2009 exhibits and cultural and educational programs.
TWAN is a long-term project that intends to continue in 2010 and beyond. Some upcoming events in North America include: – October 16 – Nov. 8, a TWAN exhibition and lectures in the town of Borrego Springs in southern California – November 20 – 22, TWAN exhibit at the Holiday Folk Fair International in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – February 2010 exhibit at New Mexico State University – several sites in Canada are under development.
For more information and to follow along as TWAN continues, see www.twanight.org
