Our story
Light of Stars grows from thirty years of making.
Created by Paper Starlights, the installation brings three decades of paper craft, print and long-standing maker relationships into architectural spaces.
Paper Starlights, established 1996
An established craft, taken to architectural scale.
Paper Starlights began with handmade paper star lanterns and a long-term relationship between the UK business and skilled makers in India. The same material knowledge, print processes and maker relationships sit behind Light of Stars.
The stars are physical objects, screen printed, folded and assembled by hand. Light of Stars takes that established craft and works with it at a different scale, responding to the architecture and life of each building.
Handmade paper star lanterns become the foundation of the business.
The first full Light of Stars installation opens for winter 2024/25.
Light of Stars returns at architectural scale for winter 2026.
The making
Made by hand, at every stage.
Each star is screen printed, folded and assembled by hand. Small variations in print, fold and finish are part of the material and give the work its character when many stars are brought together in one space.
Traditional wooden printing frames and plant-based pigments are used in the printing process. The paper is FSC-certified, dyes are non-toxic and the production workshop is Sedex audited.
FSC-certified paper
Paper is sourced with independently recognised forestry certification.
Fair trade principles
Paper Starlights is a BAFTS member and is committed to the Ten Principles of Fair Trade set out by the World Fair Trade Organization.
Audited production
The production workshop undergoes Sedex audits supporting labour and supply-chain transparency.
Community materials
Materials provided for community activity are recycled, repurposed or FSC-certified wherever applicable.
Culture and community
A shared symbol, made across communities.
Stars have appeared in folk art, faith and celebration across cultures for centuries. Paper Starlights' lanterns come from that tradition of festivity, craft and gathering.
The stars are handmade by people from different faith groups and communities across India. That shared making history helped shape the inclusive idea behind Light of Stars: people gathering beneath the same sky.
Where it suits the place, Paper Starlights also likes to support creative collaborations, community and charitable links, BIDs, lantern trails, local networks and activity that connects the installation to the people around it.
Creative lead
Andy Jupp
Artist and producer Andy Jupp co-founded Paper Starlights and leads the creative development of Light of Stars. His practice spans community arts, cultural production, live events and projects designed around public participation.
Andy has worked for Arts Council England, the British Council and numerous public bodies. Under his stage name Charity Shop DJ, he was the first DJ to play in the Houses of Parliament and regularly produces for music and arts festivals, with clients including the Southbank Centre and Hemingway Design.
That experience shapes the Light of Stars approach. The conversation is not only about where the stars hang, but how the installation can work with visitors, events, learning, community activity and the everyday life of the building.
What guides the work
Respect the place. Do the practical work properly.
Historic and public buildings already have their own character. Our job is to work with it, helping people notice the architecture differently while the venue remains recognisably itself.
That means understanding access, sightlines, services, events, rigging, installation and removal from the beginning, and working closely with the people who know the building best.
Paper Starlights
Light of Stars is created by Paper Starlights.
Explore the wider Paper Starlights story, our handmade star lanterns and thirty years of working with paper, print and light.