Students’ creative work unveiled in awe-inspiring Ely Cathedral
Our exciting partnership with Ely Cathedral’s thought-provoking Heaven and Earth – The World In Our Hands exhibition has been unveiled to the public today (1st July), with our students’ sustainable art creations making a huge statement in the exhibition until the end of this month.
The aim of the wider exhibition is to highlight some of the very real issues affecting our world today; address our responsibility to safeguard our planet; and acknowledge the impact of climate change. The focal point of the exciting project is Gaia who, in Greek mythology, is the personification of the Earth and the ancestral mother of all life. This is represented with a huge seven-metre replica of planet Earth, which is suspended from the Cathedral ceiling.
Adorning the naves and walls of the Cathedral is a burst of colourful art creations, which were each designed and created by our
students. Made with sustainable materials, each piece aims to expand on the narrative of the exhibition through art. The striking creative work includes beautiful wall hangings, colourful stones arranged in a trail, as well as hanging origami birds and haiku poems to symbolise peace and hope.
Mrs M Kakengi, Head of Textiles at St Mary's School, Cambridge, said:
"We were truly honoured to be invited to fill the historic Ely Cathedral naves with our students' design and artwork for its exciting 'Heaven and Earth' exhibition. We knew our girls would rise to this huge challenge and the results are absolutely breath-taking. Working on this awe-inspiring project has been a wonderful opportunity to showcase our students' passionately-held beliefs on environment, as well as their incredible creativity. We are looking forward to seeing everything come together for the opening of the exhibition this week!"
This project is an example of one of our Integrated Learning Days, which Years’ 7-9 take part in every year. Students spend time away from their usual lessons, working together on solving problems, which require them to bring skills together from across a number of subject disciplines. The tasks also help the girls deploy and develop the all-important wider skills of collaboration and experimentation outside the confines of the curriculum.
Find out more about the Heaven and Earth – A World In Our Hands exhibition.
See examples of the work our students have created in our online gallery.