Final chance to see cathedral giant moon sculpture

Rebecca Brahde
BBC News, Isle of Man
BBC A large 3D sculpture of the moon suspended in the air in the cathedral, with stained glass windows and large arching pillars in the background.BBC
Museum of the Moon is on display until Sunday

An exhibition featuring a sculpture of a giant illuminated moon on display at a Manx Cathedral is set to draw to a close.

The Museum of the Moon display by Luke Jerram, is on show at the recently refurbished Cathedral Isle of Man until Sunday.

The sculpture is 20ft (6m) in diameter and uses detailed NASA imagery of the celestial body and is accompanied by a soundtrack composed by award-winning composer Dan Jones.

It follows a similar exhibition showcasing another of Jerram's works, Gaia, which was on show at St Thomas' Church in Douglas last year, attracting 13,000 people.

A close-up of the bottom half of the suspended moon, which has visible craters, with the arches of the cathedral on either side.
A number of events have taken place under the sculpture since it opened on 9 February

On Sunday, the final day of the exhibition, a short film will be on display at 19:00 GMT about the history of the cathedral, followed by a ten minute ballroom dancing display at 19:30.

The exhibit will end with a quiet night in the darkened cathedral and a service of compline at 21:00.

A variety of activities have taken place since the moon has been on display, including choral performances, pilates under the artwork and talks on dark skies.

The sculpture of the moon from the side through the view of an arch in the cathedral.
The sculpture is 20ft (6m) in diameter

The exhibition has toured the world, having recently been on display in New Zealand and Canada, and has been installed in woods and above swimming pools as well as at other cathedrals.

At an approximate scale of 1:600,000, each centimetre of the artwork represents 3.7 miles (6km) of the moon's surface.

Cathedral Isle of Man is open from 09:00 to 17:00 on Saturday.

Sunday sees the church open all day with a programme that begins with services at 08:30 and 10:30, a Songs of Praise event at 15:30, and a short film about the cathedral itself at 19:00, followed by a short ballroom dancing display beneath the sculpture at 19:10.

The cathedral will then be darkened for the remainder of the evening, with the display drawing to a close with a service of compline at 21:00.

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