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Repurposed not recycled: The Big Red Phone that talks to the Moon

“The experience was an exploration of belonging, identity, technology and intelligent machines.”


The usual items Event Cycle gets to deal with range from graphics to plants, stationery to set pieces. But sometimes, something more exciting comes along and they love to try their hand at making sure it has an onward life after it’s had its first round of fun…


UNBOXED Creativity in the UK was a celebration of creativity taking place across the UK in 2022, designed to reach millions and bring people together. It featured free large-scale events, installations and globally accessible digital experiences in the UK’s most ambitious showcase of creative collaboration. Produced by some of the brightest minds in science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, UNBOXED features ten major multi-site and digital creative projects that share new ideas and possibilities for the future. Events and activities took place from 1 March to 20 November 2022 – from the Outer Hebrides to Luton and from Omagh to Swansea, and across traditional and online media. UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK was funded and supported by the four governments of the UK and was commissioned and delivered in partnership with Belfast City Council, Creative Wales and EventScotland.


As part of the 2022 UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK programme, a special project called Tour De Moon was commissioned. Tour de Moon was one of 10 major creative projects commissioned as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, taking place across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in 2022. The UK’s most ambitious showcase of creative collaboration includes free large-scale events, installations and globally accessible digital experiences. UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK was funded and supported by the four governments of the UK and commissioned and delivered in partnership with Belfast City Council, Creative Wales and EventScotland. ( For further information please visit https://tourdemoon.com/whats-on )


Tour de Moon was a cosmic adventure, a large-scale public festival of immersive experiences and live events developed in collaboration with our “universal satellite”: the Moon, seen as a character, a landscape and a prompt for radical imagination. The festival, composed of eight programming strands, engaged visitors through live and virtual experiences, supporting youth, nightlife creators, scientists and digital creators through cooperation. Tour de Moon sought new beginnings, to empower others to create, to initiate, to innovate with new thinking and pluralistic practices so that history does not repeat itself on and beyond Earth. To talk to the moon, the audience approached a large red telephone towering above them with a portal in the front with a receiver to pick up. On the other end was Luna, the moon who was ready and set to answer any burning question someone may have and respond with their own too.


The team of Tour de Moon is committed to solidarity and community which is why it was important that the Red Phone continue to live on engaging with other communities. Event Cycle was brought on board and got to work making sure it had a longer life after the festival was finished.


Event Cycle works with all types of socially beneficial organisations, from charities to community groups, schools to social enterprises. They work to donate leftover event materials that would otherwise go into recycling or into waste. This makes sure materials are kept in use, out of landfill, and benefits organisations that could better use their funding to support their essential services rather than spending it on stuff. The big red phone will be offered out to their UK network in the hope that a new creative use can be found!






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