Peter Gabriel to rock Eden on June 20

A specially-created concert featuring Peter Gabriel at the Eden Project on June 20 will mark the arrival of one of the biggest works of art ever made from a single piece of stone.

The spectacular event will be a celebration of the unveiling of Seed, a giant oval sculpture created by the internationally-acclaimed artist Peter Randall-Page.

Gabriel will be performing on the same Eden stage where nearly two years ago he co-hosted the celebrated Africa Calling concert as part of Live 8, against the backdrop of Eden’s world-famous Biomes.

Pictures from the former china clay quarry at Bodelva, Cornwall, were beamed live to billions of people across the globe and the concert was acclaimed in some quarters as the true heart of Live 8.

Concert-goers will for the first time be able to see Peter Gabriel perform in concert at Eden and will be the first to see the sculpture up close in its new home.

Eden’s creative development director Peter Hampel said: “We are honoured and thrilled to be able to announce that Peter Gabriel is coming to Eden to help us celebrate one of the most significant events in our history. “Peter is an artist of huge international standing and integrity and we share a common goal to promote the need for a more harmonious relationship between mankind and our planet and amongst all of its inhabitants.

“There could be no-one better to help us celebrate a fantastic work of art that will stand forever as a symbol of our generation’s recognition that we are part of nature, not apart from it, and that to survive we must learn to work with the grain of nature.”

Gabriel has a world-wide reputation for his innovative work as a musician, writer and video maker. He co-founded Genesis while still at school, leaving the group in 1975.

His albums, live performance and videos have earned him a succession of awards, including his first Grammy in 1986 for the album So.

In 1980 he collected a group of people together to form WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance). WOMAD has worked closely with the Eden Project over a number of years and has staged events there as part of the acclaimed Eden Sessions series of concerts. Peter Gabriel has also agreed to contribute creatively to Eden's forthcoming new development, the Edge.

Eden is expecting a high demand for the evening event on June 20 and there will be speeches by surprise high profile guests from the environmental, humanitarian and governmental sectors. Tickets are now on sale priced at £35, plus a £3 booking fee.

On June 11 there will be a compelling curtain-raiser when a procession of 500 schoolchildren and 20 Dhol Foundation drummers lead the sculpture on its final journey to The Core. Anybody who has a Cornish post code can come to witness this extraordinary moment as Eden's guests for the day without paying an entry fee.

Late that morning (June 11), Seed will be gently lowered into the bell-shaped central chamber of The Core in a painstaking operation with only inches between the giant monolith and the side of the building which will be its resting place.

At 70 tonnes, the equivalent of ten African bull elephants and heavier than the largest rock at Stonehenge, it is the most challenging work ever created by the internationally-acclaimed sculptor Randall-Page and has been two years in the making.

Covering its surface are 1,800 nodules representing the extraordinary Fibonacci growth pattern found across nature and reflecting the design of The Core, Eden's spectacular new educational hub completing the building as a perfect integration of art and architecture inspired by natural form.