(by Ida Bini) (ANSA) – FRANEKER, 26 DEC – “Seeing Stars” is a creative, innovative and sustainable project: the Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde, in collaboration with Unesco Holland, has kicked off in the city of Franeker, in Friesland northern, to the program that invites you to turn off the lights in order to see the starry sky as a universal heritage. With this project, the Dutch artist wants to encourage cities around the world to follow Franeker’s example in a conscious and sustainable way; and Unesco to recognize the observation of the stars as an essential good of humanity. The inhabitants, businesses and the municipality of Franeker have joined the project with enthusiasm by removing light pollution, ie by turning off all non-essential household lights, signs, billboards and street lamps. Other cities such as Leiden, Sydney, Venice, Stockholm and Reykjavik have also shown interest in the project.
The idea of ”Seeing Stars” was born during the lockdowns of recent months: “We were very disconnected, each in their own little bubble”, explained the artist Daan Roosegaarde, “so I came up with the incredible star show which, every night, takes place over our heads and I thought that if we turn off all the lights, we can enjoy the stars and celebrate all together “.
“Everyone should have the right to see the stars through a pristine night sky,” commented Kathleen Ferrier, chairman of the Dutch Commission for Unesco, which is supporting the project. “Looking at the stars makes you feel connected to each other, we are all part of the immense cosmos and this is the common universal heritage to which I commit myself”.
The choice of Franeker, one of the 11 historic cities of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, is not accidental: in fact, astronomers and scientists such as Jan Hendrik Oort and Eise Eisinga lived here; the latter at the end of the eighteenth century designed and built the oldest still functioning mechanical planetarium.
The city, therefore, “re-appropriates” the stars; just like in the nearby Wadden Sea, a Unesco World Heritage Site, where you can enjoy an endless view of the sky twinkling with stars.
For more information: friesland.nl/en and studioroosegaarde.net (ANSA).
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Source From: Ansa
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