Join us on World Earth Day, 22 April at 4.30pm, for the launch of Gaia, a detailed sculpture of Earth measuring seven metres in diameter, by UK artist Luke Jerram.

The official opening will feature a panel event with leading experts and thinkers exploring what’s next in our fight to prevent a climate emergency. Don’t miss this important event, and your first chance to get a glimpse of Gaia.

PANELLISTS

Sally Capp was elected Lord Mayor of Melbourne in May 2018 and is the first woman to be directly elected as Lord Mayor. Sally was also the first woman to hold the post of Agent-General for Victoria in the UK, Europe and Israel. She has also served as the CEO for the Committee for Melbourne and COO of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Professor David Karoly, FAA is an internationally recognised expert on climate change and Senior Fellow Melbourne Climate Futures, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Dr Catherine Brown OAM is the CEO of the Lord Mayor’s Foundation and Deputy Chair, The Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network and participant in the Climate Funders Initiative.

Dr Jeff Sparrow is a Wakeley award winning journalist, Lecturer in Journalism at the School of Culture and Communications, The University of Melbourne, and author of Crimes Against Nature: Capitalism and Global Heating (Scribe, 2021).

The Revd Aunty Janet Turpie-Johnstone is an Aboriginal Elder whose homelands are in Guditjtamara Country, and a Lecturer in Aboriginal Art and Culture at the Faculty of Education Australian Catholic University, researching human relationships to Country.

Submit your questions for the panel by emailing welcome@stpaulscathedral.org.au. Please submit questions by 12 noon on Friday 22 April.

ABOUT GAIA

This globally acclaimed touring artwork was created from images from NASA of the Earth’s surface, and will be suspended in the Cathedral giving visitors an incredible opportunity to view Earth as it might be seen from space, floating in three dimensions.

The artwork aims to create a sense of the ‘Overview Effect’ described by author Frank White in 1987 which is a shift in awareness experienced by some astronauts who get a feeling of awe for the planet and an understanding of the interconnectedness of all life, along with a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.

A specially made composition by BAFTA Award-winning composer Dan Jones will be played alongside the sculpture.

The exhibition will then be on display during the Cathedral’s visiting hours through to June 26.

Gaia is created in partnership with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Bluedot and the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres. With supporting partners Culture Liverpool and Liverpool Cathedral.