MUSCAT: The Museum of the Moon, a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram, is hosted at Bait Al Khonji as part of the Raneen Art Festival held in Muttrah. Measuring seven metres in diameter, the moon features 120 dpi detailed Nasa imagery of the lunar surface. Over its lifetime, the Museum of the Moon has been presented around the world in several different ways, both indoors and outdoors, altering the experience and interpretation of the artwork.
Art enthusiasts were already there on Saturday to marvel at the sculpture and capture it in their sketchbooks. At 4.30 pm, the two artists were ready to have their talk and interact with the audience.
“I thought of the idea 15 years ago, and it took me about 10 years to create it because I had to wait for the data from Nasa. So this moon is at an approximate scale of 1:500,000, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture, and it represents 5 km of the moon's surface,” John said while speaking to the Observer.
He explained that this artwork has been presented 300 times in 30 countries.
For the Moon in Muttrah, composer and sound artist John Meirion Rea has created a new site-specific sound and music work for Raneen.
The work is tilted 'Celestial Bodies', and he travelled to different parts of Oman to blend Rea's original composition with the sounds of Oman and archive recordings, giving the work a sense of place. He said he enjoyed travelling to Musandam to experience the traditional folk music.
"The musical collaboration with Omani Oud player Amal Waqar was fantastic. I enjoy the sounds of Welsh and Arabic, such as Ch in Welsh and Kh in Arabic.”
John Meirion Rea is a composer and sound artist based in Cardiff, Wales.
The immersive, multi-speaker outcome is a site-specific response to Luke Jerram's Museum of the Moon, which presented the Bait Al Khonji in the centre of historic Muttrah. The work has also received financial support from the British Council and Wales Arts International.
It has become a hit with visitors and will be on till the end of November as part of the Raneen festival.
Malik al Hinai, an art enthusiast and museum specialist visiting the exhibit, said the concept of the moon is very inspiring.
“Most importantly, it is the inclusivity of the community that is important, in addition to the venue, Muttrah, which is such an important place historically,” he noted.
Luke Jerram's multidisciplinary practice involves the creation of sculptures, installations and live arts projects. Living in the UK but working internationally since 1997, Jerram has created several extraordinary art projects that have excited and inspired people around the world. In 2023 alone, he had over 115 exhibitions in 27 different countries, visited by more than 3 million people.
John’s work is deeply rooted in Welsh culture and landscape and in cross-cultural connections and collaborations. His interest is in responding to place and community and in exploring new interdisciplinary approaches.
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