THE spellbinding touring art installation ‘Museum of the Moon’ was presented at Tintern Abbey by The Wye Valley River Festival in partnership with Cadw last week. 

The artwork was designed to contribute both an artistic experience and to enhance knowledge of lunar matters. The fringe event on Sunday evening offered an extended opportunity to moonbathe.

During the early evening light, Luke Jerram’s installation was remarkable enough: a seven metre wide inflated moon suspended high in the ruins featuring NASA grade detail of its surface. Popular activities used to pass the time between the event and dusk included the creation of photographs designed to give the effect of human subjects engaging with the moon - supporting it, hugging it and so on, and of course making close observations of the ‘dark’ side of the moon. Pink Floyd did not feature on the Sunday, however - the haunting and echoing surround-sound composition was attributed to composer BAFTA and Ivor Novello winning Dan Jones.  

As the light faded from the sky and the arches and windows were more pronounced against the deepening blue, so the magic began as the installation gained in luminosity until it dominated and reduced the roaming audience to shadows.

Andrew Blake, Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Manager reported that the moon was lit internally and that each square cm of the seven metre wide sphere represented five kilometres of the lunar surface. He promised a three dimensional experience as the moon gained brightness. He was right. He also reported that although between four and six hundred people had attended the ‘Museum of the Moon’ events during the week, there had been a peak of 800 on Saturday. He agreed that although the original AONB plan had been to produce just three biennial River Festivals, the third Festival 2018 had been such a success, with the added benefit of excellent weather with just one local shower on one of the days that he would never say never again!  

The ’Museum of the Moon’ travels to France this week, gathering music and stories, returning to Bristol in June.