Close
Gaia is a permanent artwork in the atrium at UCL East Marshgate and the inspiration for a public programme of events centered around our place on this planet, and our collective need to protect it.
- Find out more about Gaia...
1.8 million times smaller than the real Earth, Gaia is a permanently installed artwork which embodies UCL as London’s Global University and is located in the atrium at UCL East Marshgate. Artist Luke Jerram designed Gaia for people to ‘see the Earth as if from space; an incredibly beautiful and precious place. An ecosystem we urgently need to look after – our only home’. Creating a sense of the ‘Overview Effect’, first described by author Frank White in 1987, the experience includes a feeling of awe and renewed sense of responsibility for the planet, as well as a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life.
Inspiring a new public programme at UCL East, Gaia acts as a visual reminder of our place on this planet, and our collective need to protect it.
Programme of events
Launched in September 2023, the Gaia Public Programme is a cultural programme of performances, talks and specially-commissioned arts projects which interrogate the many challenges that our planet and humanity faces, while celebrating the potential for future living.
Drawing on themes including the impact of climate change, mass migration, technological advancements such as AI, sustainability and community action, the programme brings together artists, communities and UCL East’s research, in an accessible arts-led public programme.
Find out below about our upcoming events and look back on some of our past events.
Earth Day 2024
TELLUS MATER
photo: Leah Lovett
The Earth Makes No Sound
photo: Kristan Lam Clark
Sing to Gaia, BBC Singers
photo: BBC/Mark Allen
Past events
Composing for the Climate installation
11-30 November 2024
BBC Young Composer and UCL East presented Composing for the Climate, an audio-visual installation for 11-18 year olds focusing on science and creativity. The installation culminated a year-long programme of commissioned new music inspired by Gaia, written by young composers, which was performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra at the BBC Proms. Find out about the project and process on the BBC website, including their collaboration with scientists on the WWF-funded Biome Health Project, a biodiversity intiative led by academics at UCL’s People & Nature Lab.
Lookout at UCL East - A unique interactive performance
22-24 November 2024 (14 performances)
22-24 November 2024 - Lookout, a project by Andy Field and Beckie Darlington, is a unique interactive performance that brings adults and children together to think about the future of their city. UCL East commissioned a special version of Lookout, re-imagined through conversations with UCL experts on climate change and planetary futures, and presented to coincide with COP29 in Azerbaijan. Taking place on the terrace of UCL East's Marshgate Building, looking out over breathtaking views of East London, audience members and young performers from Mayflower Primary School stoof together, looking out at the streets and buildings of the city below, and began to imagine how that same view will look many years from now. Find out more and listen to the imagined futures. Find out more and listen to the imagined futures on Andy and Beckie's website.
Poetry and the Planet
Poetry and the Planet was developed as part of the Gaia Public Programme and UCL East's Schools Programme for secondary schools from Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Hackney. Pupils participated in poetry workshops with acclaimed poet Anneliese Amoah and heard from UCL climate researchers. Workshops took place on campus and in schools. The poems written by the pupils were gathered into a digital and printed anthology with an opportunity to perform them in front of an invited audience at UCL East. Find out more about the event on the UCL East website.
Earth Day 2024 at UCL East
April 2024 - UCL East celebrated Earth Day 2024 with a series of events for local schools and the public, considering this year's theme of Planet vs Plastics.
TELLUS MATER: Interacting with the spirit of earth
November 2023 - TELLUS MATER was an interactive installation utilising recent developments in natural language processing and artificial intelligence, enabling audiences to talk to Mother Earth. The work was created by Professor Andrew Hudson-Smith and Dr Leah Lovett of the Connected Environments Lab, UCL East, as part of The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA).
Earth Makes No Sound at UCL East
October 2023 - Performances of Earth Makes No Sound, an ever-evolving choral work inspired by the elements and changes happening to our planet, filled the atrium, lit by the glow of Gaia. Created by Filament Theatre, the performances featured a cast of company professionals with community singers from East London.
East London schools and BBC singers celebrate planet earth
October 2023 - One hundred school children from Bobby Moore Primary and Secondary Academy, Hillyfield Primary Academy and St Winefride’s Catholic Primary School in East London performed with the BBC Singers, in a musical programme, Earth, Air and Moon, and broadcast on Radio 3.