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Diary of a Martian Beekeeper

Niamh Shaw

Niamh Shaw

It’s now 2036.

Niamh is on Mars and a member of Crew 173, on a long duration mission to investigate new ways of growing food in this arid foreign land. As their 2 year mission comes to an end, one crucial experiment remains for Niamh. But will she overcome her personal struggles or put the whole crew and the mission in danger?
[blockquote_right]13 – 16 Mar | 7:30pm | Main Space[/blockquote_right]
A highly visual exploration of future interplanetary human exploration, Shaw and her creative team create a new world order, reminding us of the power of the collective, the fragility of the solitary human and the united will behind all major breakthroughs. Because we may one day leave the cradle of Earth, but we will always be human.

The show about Niamh’s dream to go to Space has been inspired by Elon Musks grand design for a future interplanetary civilisation, testimonies of ESA employees, and Niamh’s personal space journey.

Created by Niamh Shaw & Sarah Baxter in collaboration with CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, ESERO Ireland, European Space Agency & ESA Astronaut Centre. Funded by Science Foundation Ireland Discover Programme 2017.

Suitable for audiences aged 12+


For anyone who’s ever stared in wonder at the night sky, who’s ever felt the weight of their own childhood expectations, who’s ever had dreams that felt too big for them….its an absolute must see.
★★★★★ Adelaide Fringe Festival 2016

What begins as a show about space slowly shifts to become something far more profound and personal about dashed hopes and disillusion – and the crucial importance of retaining a sense of wonder.
★★★★ David Kettle, The List Edinburgh 2015


Niamh Shaw is one of Ireland’s leading science communicators, exploring new ways of engaging the public in science. She is passionate about all things Space, and plans to be a future space colonist, to contribute to human space exploration as artist and communicator. In 2017, she participated in a simulated Mars mission as the artist and journalist for Crew 173, a team of six international analogue astronauts at the Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert. Also that year, she trained at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Moscow where she experienced a Zero gravity flight. She returns to Moscow in 2018 for further training and will soon be announcing further analogue missions to extreme terrains on Earth. She is Co-Chair of Humanities at the International Space University’s 2018 annual Space Studies Programme in The Netherlands, was Core Lectures Associate Chair in 2017, and is an 2015 alumnus of this same programme.

As the artist in residence at CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork, her STEAM lecture/performance piece, To Space, toured internationally including Edinburgh Fringe (2015), Adelaide Fringe (2016), Edinburgh International Science Festival (2016), and Cheltenham Science Festival (2016) supported by Culture Ireland, ESA and the Arts Council of Ireland. This is her third science show and her second collaboration with Sarah Baxter in merging science themes (STEM) with art (STEAM) on stage.


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httpss://youtu.be/HosD_HOq8vc