GLASWEGIANS will have the chance to see what planet Earth “looks like from the moon” at a city church this spring.

Luke Jerram’s awe-inspiring artwork, Gaia (The Earth) will be open to the public for the first time at Mackintosh Queen’s Cross as part of a six-month programme of events to mark the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society’s 50th anniversary.

The society was formed in October 1973 to help save under-threat buildings designed by the famous architect, and it now has more than 1000 members worldwide.

The former Queen’s Cross Church (now Mackintosh Queen’s Cross) was one of the buildings saved for future generations.

Glasgow Times: Inside Mackintosh Queen's Cross ChurchInside Mackintosh Queen's Cross Church (Image: Newsquest)

Gaia was last seen in Glasgow by attendees at COP26, the climate change conference, but this will be the first time it will be open to the public.

Luke's previous installation, Museum of the Moon, attracted thousands of visitors when it was in the church in 2018 as part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Mackintosh’s birth.

Gaia is 2.1 million times smaller than the real Earth with each centimetre of the internally lit sculpture describing 21km of the Earth’s surface. 

By standing 181m away from the artwork, which measures six metres in diameter, the public will be able to see the Earth as it appears from the moon.

The artwork slowly revolves and a specially made sound composition by BAFTA award-winning composer Dan Janes is played alongside the sculpture. Unlike the moon, which we have been gazing at for millennia, the first-time humankind got to see the Earth in its entirety as a blue marble floating in space was in 1972 with NASA’s Apollo 17 mission.

Luke said: “Congratulations to the CRM Society on their 50th anniversary. We’re delighted to present Gaia and hope visitors get 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.”

Stuart Robertson, director of the CRM Society, said: “We are thrilled to present this world class art installation. We had Museum of the Moon in the church in 2018, so we thought it was fitting to have the Earth here for our golden anniversary. We welcome the people of Glasgow and beyond to view this extraordinary spectacle in Mackintosh’s only built church.”

Gaia – named after the Greek goddess of Earth - will be open to the public from May 13 until June 24. A series of events will run alongside the installation, including a concert hosted by Lost Map Records featuring Amy May Ellis, Pictish Trail, LT Leif and Lost Map DJs. 

A full events programme of concerts, talks and activities for schools and children will be announced in the coming weeks.