Recordings of Gori Women's Choir ensemble included in first sending of arts to the Moon in 50 years
Gori Women's Choir will feature among artists from 90 countries whose work will be delivered to the Moon in 2024. Photo via Gori Women's Choir
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Three recordings of performances of the Gori Women's Choir ensemble will be included in the first significant placement of contemporary arts on the Moon in 50 years by NASA, under the Lunar Codex project sending capsules to the satellite.
The prize-winning choir, led by Artistic Director Teona Tsiramua, revealed the news on social media on Monday, announcing the recordings of their singing would be part of 90 works of art from across the world.
Their performances of two works by the celebrated Georgian composer Ioseb Kechakmadze, and a recording of an Abkhazian-language folk song, are set to be delivered to the Moon in 2024 along with the history of the choir.
While focused on visual art, the Lunar Codex also includes a substantial collection of contemporary books, stories, poetry, films, music, essays, and more
- Lunar Codex project summary
The project has been described as "the most expansive, international, and diverse collection of contemporary culture launched to the Moon". It will also mark the first launch of works by women artists to the surface of the Moon.
The Georgian choir released a video of their performance with the announcement of the project for delivering their recordings to the Moon:
Artworks delivered to the satellite as part of the Lunar Codex project will be delivered along with scientific instruments by NASA between 2022-2024, in preparation to landing human missions on the Moon in 2025, for the first time 50 years, within NASA's Artemis Programme.
The occasion will also mark the first time since 1977 that a Georgian vocal recording has been launched into space. That year, NASA sent a recording of a folk singing performance by a duo of Georgian performers Rostom Saginashvili and Ilia Zakaidze on a vinyl attached to Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts into open space.
Gori Women's Choir were awarded the prestigious state Order of Honour for promoting the heritage of Georgian vocal singing in 2017, the same year the country celebrated the 40th anniversary of the NASA delivery of the Saginashvili and Zakaidze's recording to space.
Their three recordings included in the Lunar Codex project have also been released as an Extended Play recording by the Georgian-based Leno Records, and can be streamed online.
The Georgian capital of Tbilisi is marking an anniversary of a historic event that brought together interstellar exploration and Georgian national folk singing within NASA’s Voyager Golden Records project 40 years ago.
The country’s celebrated Women's Choir from the central Georgian city of Gori has been awarded a prestigious Order of Honour for promoting Georgia.
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