Your invitation to the moon and back
Launching Moon Palace by Heather Peak and Ivan Morison, an East Leeds Project and LEEDS 2023 co-production
A gift from East Leeds to the world, Moon Palace is a new social sculpture and working observatory by artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison.
Inspired by civil engineer and astronomer John Smeaton and the observatory he built in East Leeds, Moon Palace brings together creativity and art, engineering and science, collaboration and public good. Find us on tour around Leeds from June to December.
Click on the banner below to book your place for moongazing sessions with expert astronomers, and join us on this absurdly joyful, other-worldly adventure.
About the Artists
Heather Peak (b.1973, UK) and Ivan Morison (b.1974, Turkey) have established an ambitious collaborative practice over the past 18 years that transcends the divisions between art, architecture, theatre and social practice, questioning what it means to be an artist in the 21st Century. They are co-directors of Studio Morison, an artist-led creative practice which supports and realises their ideas and the people they work with.
Heather and Ivan have created temporary and permanent projects in many countries around the world, and their work is held in private and public collections in the UK, Canada, USA, Holland and Denmark. Recent commissions include Silence – Alone in a World of Wounds at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and Small Bells Ring, commissioned by Coventry City of Culture, Super Slow Way, Lancashire Libraries, Coventry Libraries and Canal & River Trust (both 2021).
Moon Palace Credits
Moon Palace is by Heather Peak and Ivan Morrison. It is an East Leeds Project and LEEDS 2023 Co-production and is commissioned by Foxglove and LEEDS 2023 for Smeaton300.
The work is based on an original idea of a mobile observatory by East Leeds Project. Developed in collaboration with the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds. Support by LEEDS 2023, Leeds City Council, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, Bruntwood, Burberry and Scottish Power Foundation. Smeaton300 is an original idea developed by Foxglove, enabled by Leeds City Council in partnership with LEEDS 2023. Supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, Bruntwood, Burberry and Scottish Power Foundation.
Moon Palace photos: Charles Emerson