What they needed

DIAS Dunsink Observatory wanted to document a new programme of workshops, Space Crafts — a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) initiative funded through the Research Ireland Discover Programme, with support from ESERO Ireland and Fingal County Council Arts Office.

Space Crafts expanded the Observatory’s existing education programme to include local primary schools, bringing students together for a series of collaborative science and arts workshops. Working in partnership with Superprojects and a group of Irish artists, the programme combined hands-on science activities with creative responses, allowing students to explore scientific ideas through art-making.

DIAS wanted to document this new initiative in a way that reflected both the educational aims of the programme and the experience of the children taking part.

What we did

To capture the scale and variety of Space Crafts, we filmed across multiple workshop sessions, returning on several occasions. Our aim was to document at least half of the eight participating schools and to capture different stages of the three-day workshops, from initial scientific exploration through to creative outcomes.

We focused on the students as the primary voices of the project, alongside interviews with teachers, organisers, and participating artists. Rather than presenting the programme through explanation alone, we sought to convey what we observed on the ground — the excitement, curiosity, and creativity that emerged through the workshops.

These are often the elements that are hardest to communicate through written description alone. Here, film offered a way to provide a more immediate and experiential insight into the project, reflecting the atmosphere and impact of the programme as it unfolded.