Hope Cathedral
Hope Cathedral is a common expression of hope as a symbol to unite us. The Hope Cathedral is an interfaith, environmentally sustainable art project symbolizing the creation of hope through cooperation. It is open to all, a meeting place for people of all ages and across differences in culture and religion. Its inspiration is the boundless ocean, which connects us. Nations, continent and individuals, whichever religion we might belong to, or not. The ocean is life-giving and is our collective heritage. This heritage is under threat. If we are to save it, we must work together. Inspired by Norway's famous stave churches, the structure rises majestically on its 120 m2 barge made of timber and roots and is built in traditional fashion. The roof is a 300 m2 multi-coloured work of art made of plastic taken from the ocean and subjected to an innovative transformation process. More than 1000 fish boxes have been washed, granulated and turned into 4000 roof tiles in more than 50 different colours.
Over 12,000 hours of voluntary work has been laid down to build Hope Cathedral. Every week a group of volunteers comes here to build the Cathedral. When one enters the Catherdal, one can almost feel the love put into the building through acts of volunteerism. The project aims to become a Center for Diapraxis. Diapraxis means “to share common experiences and activities”. Hope Cathedral believes that we need to actively work together if we are to help saving Mother Earth and the Oceans. The community also creates bee-hotels and teaches about sustainability both on weekly school-workshops and with a group of older immigrants who meet to practice Norwegian and to have a meaningful place to go every week.
