A giant globe is coming to Salford this winter as part of a major arts festival coming to the city.
The ‘floating earth’, created by artist Luke Jerram, will be on show on the Manchester Ship Canal, next to the Lowry in MediaCity, from December 3 to December 12.
Mr Jerram’s artwork, which is also known as ‘Gaia’, has been created from 1,200dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface.
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Throughout its installation in Salford, Gaia will be lit up by LED lights from the inside — so while it is possible to see it in daylight, the best views can be found at sunset and in the dark.
Despite being a huge 10 metres in diameter, the globe is still 1.8 million times smaller than our planet.
Gaia is the main attraction of this year’s Lightwaves Festival, which is free to attend, and features 12 new artworks.
Organisers hope the festival will allow visitors a chance to see ‘world-class art’ free of charge.
Jennifer Taylor, programme producer at Quays Culture said: “We’re thrilled to be commissioning and presenting twelve unique light installations as part of this year’s Lightwaves, and particularly excited to be animating the iconic waterways at Salford Quays with such ambitious and captivating works.
“Quays Culture is passionate about elevating world-class artistic experiences and making them available to audiences free of charge thanks to the incredible support of our funders and partners – this year’s programme really embraces that and raises the ambition to a new level.”
Other works in the Lightwaves Festival include ‘Cygnus’ by Loomaland — a water ballet featuring 12 perfectly synchronised, glowing robot swans.
Another work that will animate the water is the newly-created ‘Sirens’ by Davy & Kristin McGuire.
It uses holographic projections to transform public waterways into mythical underwater worlds inhabited by supernatural sea creatures and mysterious mermaids.
Lightwaves Festival runs from December 3-12 across Salford Quays, and is free to attend.
