One of South Australia’s most wonderful festivals, World of Music, Arts and Dance (better known as WOMADelaide) is returning to the Botanic Parklands/Tainmuntilla this March with a flood of local, interstate, and international talent.
The four-day, award-winning festival is a marvel not only for the ears, but the eyes too – and this year there’s a gigantic, floating, illuminated, three-dimensional Earth which will be suspended from the trees at the WOMADelaide festival. Flat Earthers, look away.
The installation measures at seven metres in diameter and goes by the name of Gaia by UK artist, Luke Jerram. The piece is a precisely proportioned Earth which glows from within; created using 120dpi (dots per inch) detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface.
The artwork aims to create a sense of the Overview Effect, which was first described by author Frank White in 1987. The sensation is said to feature a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment, as documented by astronauts.
Gaia by Luke Jerram further acts as a mirror to major events in society. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the artwork has the potential to provision all that bear witness with a new perspective of our place on the planet; a sense that societies of the Earth are all interconnected, and that we have a responsibility toward one another.
The installation will be suspended within the trees at the earthy grounds of WOMADelaide, whilst a surround sound composition by BAFTA award-winning composer, Dan Jones is played alongside the sculpture.
Gaia is set to be a wonderous sight, but the entire WOMADelaide festival will be hand-in-hand. A simply divine line-up of performers will be taking to the seven stages across the parklands. Think: Florence + The Machine, Aurora, Bon Iver, Dem Mob, Madeleine Peyroux, The Proclaimers, and Sampa The Great – to name a very few.
As well as the musicians and dancers, WOMADelaide serves as a superb platform for discussions of thinkers, scientists, activists, writers, environmentalists, journalists, economists, and communicators with The Planet Talks. And for lovers of food, at Taste the World you can share a feast with festival performers as they share their stories over dishes from home.
The touring, Gaia by Luke Jerram exhibition at WOMADelaide can be viewed across all four days of the festival in Botanic Park/Tainmuntilla. Tickets to WOMADelaide are essential, but viewing of Gaia comes at no extra cost.