• Swindon & Wiltshire Culture
• Thursday July 25 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Stunning art installation Gaia to return to Bristol

A stunning art installation of the planet earth will be returning to its creator’s home town this autumn.

Luke Jerram’s Gaia will be on display at Bristol Cathedral from October 15 to November 9.

The seven-metre wide installation – 1.8 million times smaller than our home planet – features detailed imagery from NASA. The installation is accompanied by ethereal music by BAFTA award-winning composer Dan Jones.

Over the installation period, four special evening Up Late events will be held where audiences can enjoy the spectacle in darkness, accompanied by live music.

There will also be a one-off Blue Planet concert on October 24, performed by Bristol Ensemble.

Luke Jerram with Gaia, by the Natural Environment Research Council

“I’m delighted to bring my Gaia earth artwork to my home city,” said the artist.

“I can’t wait for visitors to the Cathedral to see the Earth as if from space; an incredibly beautiful and precious experience.

“The Cathedral is hosting a really exciting and inspirational programme of events that people can get involved with and I’ll also be announcing a new environmental artwork for the region in tandem with Gaia being installed.”

Gaia previously visited Bristol in 2019, when it was displayed in the Great Hall of the Bristol University’s Wills Memorial Building in 2019. More recently, it attracted crowds to Bath Abbey last autumn.

Jerram is also responsible for Museum of the Moon, which attracted 60,000 visitors to the Cathedral in 2021, and Journey to Mars, a seven-metre wide representation of the red planet, which was displayed alongside Concorde at Aerospace Bristol last year.

Main image: Gaia, by the Natural Environment Research Council

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