A new exhibition at Chester Cathedral.
Jacha has been invited for a third year to exhibit at Chester Cathedral. This year his exhibition is to run alongside Luke Jerram’s Gaia exhibit – a giant inflated globe floating in the south transept of the cathedral.
Climate change and its impact on nature.
Luke Jerram’s Gaia lets visitors see the world as if seen from the moon. Jerram says: “I hope visitors to Gaia 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. Halfway through the Earth’s sixth mass extinction, we urgently need to wake up, and change our behaviour. We need to quickly make the changes necessary, to prevent run away Climate Change.”
To compliment the amazing Gaia, Jacha has created life-sized sculptures of endangered species affected by climate change. These species included a Polar bear, orangutan and rhino. Each sculpture was created using plastic waste Jacha has collected.
Take the pledge!
Jacha has used the opportunity with this exhibition to raise awareness of charities connected to the species he created. One of those charities is Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) and he encourages visitors to sign BOS’s wildlife pledge.
Other charities supported are: Orangutan Appeal UK, Pangolins International, Helping Rhinos and I’m Not Plastic.
The saddest story.
One of the most poignant pieces in Jacha’s exhibition is the Kauai ‘ō’ō bird. This little bird was declared extinct in 1973 when there were only 36 individuals remaining. The female of the last breeding pair was last heard in 1982 and the male in 1987.
Ornithologist Dr. Jim Jacobi visited Kauai in 1984 and was fortunate to see the last remaining ‘ō’ō. Dr Jacobi recorded the different sounds of the forest, the ‘ō’ō flew onto a nearby branch and started to sing. Dr. Jacobi recorded the song and went he bird flew off he replayed the recording to check he had actually captured it. the bird suddenly returned, heartbreakingly Dr.Jacobi realised the bird was responding to a call he had not heard in a long time.
You can hear the bird song here.
You can see the Extinction is Forever exhibition from February 7th to March 12th 2023.