West End gets galactic glow-up for Women's Day

The West End is having an intergalactic takeover with telescopes dotted around the central London area while Piccadilly Circus is full of sounds that have been beamed to the moon and back.

Large illuminated sculptures of asteroid-sized moon rocks and giant fluorescent cats have also been dotted around Leicester Square by artist and designer Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian.

They have all been made by female, queer, transgender and non-binary artists and scientists to mark International Women's Day.

It is hoped that the event will help boost the night-time economy - 3,000 clubs, pubs and bars have closed in London since the pandemic according to the Night Time Industries Association.

Called Piccadilly Un:Plugged, the project aims to showcase the capital as a cultural hub with some galleries, including the National Gallery and Royal Academy of Arts, staying open late on Friday.

Sounds of the West End, music and the heartbeats of Ms Hayoun-Stépanian's family will also be heard in Piccadilly Circus but with a twist - the sounds have been sent from the square to the moon and back using Earth-Moon-Earth communication producing a "unique astronomical soundscape".

Meanwhile, the telescopes will enable the public to view planets and nebulae, which are interstellar clouds of dust, often marking a star's birthplace.

Piccadilly Un:Plugged is occurring during "galaxy season" when distant galaxies are at their most visible.

"Piccadilly Un:Plugged invites you to break free from the everyday and step into the extraordinary and alien aesthetics - to gaze into the cosmos, and to understand that we are only a small part of a much larger ecosystem and solar system itself," said Ms Hayoun-Stépanian, who is also the founder of NASA's International Space Orchestra.

"Powered by an electric team of incredible scientists and female, trans, and non-binary artists, this experience reimagines the future of nightlife - on Earth and beyond.

"I'm beyond excited that everyone can now be part of it, engage their radical imagination and question what other futures could be like."

She added: "Nightlife is a huge part of London culture but since Covid it's taken a massive hit."

"It is out of this world," says Ayssea Hussan, one of the musicians whose work is being sent to the moon.

Having grown up in the capital city, Ms Hussan wanted to capture "an absurd merge of London life in 2025" that would be sent and tampered with by the moon.

"It was the perfect offering when I thought about DJing with the moon."

Ms Hayoun-Stepanian hopes this exhibit can "reflect the vibrancy of what London's night scene used to be".

In a highly digital age where many feel increasingly disconnected from the natural world, she said Piccadilly Un:Plugged invites Londoners to reflect on humanity's place in the universe.

Kirsty Tullett-Jones, director of Art of London, which helped organise the event, said: "It's a wild and imaginative experience.

"We really want to make the collaboration of art and science accessible to everyone.

"We love to surprise people with bold and boisterous art, so what better way than to bring the weird and wonderful to the West End."

One passerby told the BBC she'd "never seen anything like it."

After closely inspecting the installation at Piccadilly Circus, she went on to add that while knowing nothing about astronomy, she was super intrigued about how the moon had changed the sound of music.

Ms Hayoun-Stepanian says the event is "a message of love, compassion, healing and peace, urging a reconsideration of our futures on Earth and in space through a lens that values inclusivity, sustainability, plurality, and transnational thinking".

The exhibition, which runs from 6-8 March, was delivered by Heart of London Business Alliance and Westminster City Council.

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