Romania - The 2/3 galeria is a space dedicated to contemporary art with an emphasis on photography, located in Bucharest. The building that houses the art exhibitions was built in 1895 by the architect Wilhelm Bast. After undergoing many transformations, the gallery's founder decided to preserve its historic character by keeping the 19th century exposed brick arches and the natural marble added in the 1970s. The new art gallery was inaugurated in June 2021 and it is characterised by a timeless feeling, combining the historical charm of the Bucharest's Old Town with the novelty of contemporary art. The art gallery aims to feature new artists with a distinctive perspective on the world. The name of the gallery was inspired by the 35mm frame format seen on compact cameras, another tribute to the importance of history in contemporary art. The new gallery has already hosted
Mexico - Daring acrobatic performers are as much a part of a circus as jugglers and clowns. This is especially true at Gran Circo Bardu, which, having no animals in its rink, relies heavily on the feats of physical dexterity by its acrobats to thrill audiences. These nimble artists aren’t the only ones performing delicate balancing acts at Gran Circo Bardu. As a lighting designer at the popular circus, Abraham De La Curz Merida must also walk a tight rope of sorts. With no backdrop or scenery inside the circular rink, he has to create texture with lighting alone; but at the same time, he must also be very careful not to distract the performers as they go through their carefully choreographed routines. Helping him thread the needle between these demands and create visuals that support the stars during a one-hour acrobatic demonstration is a collection of four Rogue
Canada - Laval, Québec-based Creative Lab, which creates lighting and visual installations of all kinds, has invested in 24 Ayrton Mistral-TC LED spot moving lights. The new fixtures have already been put to work on the Montreal Canadiens’ Samedis FANatiques (FANatic Saturdays) pre-game show and on a glitzy auto dealership event. “The Mistrals are our first Ayrton fixtures but certainly not our last,” declares Francis Aubin, president and founder of Creative Lab. “They are also our first moving light purchase. We decided to go with Mistral because the fixtures are well known in the industry by lighting professionals. Mistral is compact, versatile and powerful – the ideal first moving light to add to our inventory and bring more creativity to our design.” Les Samedis FANatiques is streamlined live before each Saturday home game. Featur
Belgium - Production values were ramped up by the organisers of the two-day Rave Rebels XXL extravaganza, staged at Palais 12 in Brussels, celebrating a return to live events for this high energy phenomenon that included production design with lighting and set by Thomas Boets with 200 x Robe Pointe moving lights at its epicentre. The show design brief from the two organisers, Jens Grieten and Nick Ramoudt, who also run the renowned Kompass Klub underground techno venue in Ghent, was to keep it “industrial” - raw, stark, high tech and with a massive impact on 30,000 techno fans over the two nights. Thomas collaborated closely with several creatives including Rene van Dijk, head content creator / VJ and his team, on the overall look of the show, together with lighting programmer and operator Kristof Blancquart and automation designer/operator Rik Uytersprot of Gravit
The Netherlands - The Theatre of Vista College in Heerlen hosted the eleventh edition of Nieuwe Honden. The student-run production featured a plethora of lighting fixtures, consoles and accessories, and LED Screens from Infinity, Showtec, and DMT. Nieuwe Honden 2021 was the biggest production of the year for the Arts, Theatre, and Media Department of Vista College. The previous year’s production of Nieuwe Honden was live-streamed as an alternative to hosting a live audience due to coronavirus restrictions. However, this year’s edition, which ran from 9-11 November, returned to welcome sold-out attendances. An important theme of the Nieuwe Honden production was collaboration, meaning everyone was dependent on one another and had to communicate effectively. This theme was not only limited to the Art, Theatre and Media courses at Vista College, but also various other
UK - A group of enterprising locals have undertaken an initiative to celebrate Bradford’s industrial past and look forward to its future with Bradford is #LiT. A festival of art and illumination, Bradford is #LiT aims to transform the West Yorkshire town’s post-industrial cityscape with light installations ahead of its bid to become Europe’s Capital of Culture in 2025. Towering high above the Bradford skyline, the chimney within the former Albion Mills complex provided the appropriate canvas on which to highlight the wonders of one of Bradford’s industrial relics. To implement the resulting installation, entitled Tapestry of Light (one of the most visited landmarks during the two week festival), Chris Beardwell and his team at Pro Audio Systems (PAS) incorporated four Chauvet Professional Rogue 1 Outcast BeamWash luminaires to accent the structure.
France - A new Anolis LED lighting scheme is illuminating the exterior façade of the Rosary Basilica at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes (Sanctuaire de Notre-Dame de Lourdes), a destination calling pilgrims and worshipers from worldwide to the south of France. The new lighting was designed and specified by Bruno Le Vacon, founder of audiovisual design office Blev Organisation and Sébastien Gaye from Ace Event Group. The physical installation of the luminaires - chosen from Anolis’ Divine, ArcPar, Eminere and ArcSource ranges - was completed by Ace Event who are locally based, with the equipment supplied via Anolis France. Each luminaire was individually customised at the Anolis factory in the Czech Republic before dispatch to France. The delicate and meticulous application of light on this special monument was a major challenge for Bruno whose task was
India - Christmas and New Year celebrations in Mumbai were especially dazzling thanks to a light and laser spectacular showcasing the beauty of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, a 5.6 km long, eight-lane wide bridge connecting Bandra in the western suburbs of Mumbai with Worli in the south. Spectators in India’s largest city enjoyed the experience in which Claypaky Mythos 2 spotlights and versatile HY B-EYE K25 LED wash lights/beams/VFX projectors played a key role. The span of the bridge was illuminated with a string of lights in a changing array of colours as the towering arches and cables were bathed in rainbow hues. “This was a benchmark holiday event in India for Christmas and New Year’s,” says Pankil Ahuja, sales manager for the Indian sub-continent for AMS-Osram ClayPaky . “The lighting set up and installation happened in just two days. With such a short turn
UK - Hever Castle recently had its façade and gardens beautifully lit by 96 Showtec Helix S5000 RGBW outdoor LED wash lights and 50 Showtec Festoon light Q4 Strings manufactured by Highlite International B.V. STL Lighting Limited supplied its services, decorating the estate in bright and colourful lights for the dark days around Christmas. The double-moated 13th century Hever castle has a rich history. Once the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I, it can be found in the village of Hever, about 50km south-east of central London. Nowadays, the castle and its gardens are open to visitors, and accommodation for corporate and private events can be booked as well as hotel rooms. To brighten up the dark days surrounding Christmas, Hever Castle and its gardens were submerged in beautiful festive lighting, provided by STL Producti
Canada - Country Music “rings true wherever you go” James Barker told an interviewer last year. The platinum certified chart-topping star is living proof of that. Born in Canada, the singer/song writer and his James Barker Band embody the heart and soul of the Nashville sound with their raw, down-home style - a brand of music that’s earned them two No. 1 hits along with a Juno Award. Recently, the quartet appeared at London’s Centennial Hall for a country jamboree, Canadian style. Reflecting the upbeat, hard-driving power of the band was an Andrew Dawson lightshow that featured Chauvet Professional STRIKE 1 fixtures supplied by PA Shop Productions. Like the band itself, Dawson’s show thrived on creating a strong connection to the crowd. Toward this end, the young designer from Toronto relied on audience lighting from the eight STRIKE 1 units in his rig.
Australia - Jarrad Donovan from Juxta Design chose a full grandMA3 lighting control system for Hillsong Church’s recent Simply Christmas special production which was staged at The Hillsong Convention Centre in Norwest, Sydney. The vibrant event was slightly different from the usual Hillsong Christmas Spectacular show, both to reflect the ‘mood of the moment’ and to comply with the current Covid protocols, which resulted in a smaller cast and a tighter timeframe for build and rehearsals. That said, the goal of achieving the same high standards and complex production values was still very much the objective for the entire team involved in creating a dynamic, memorable event that wowed both live and streamed audiences. The six 90-minute shows took place over two days and were action-packed with a lively mix of 15 different back-to-back musical perform
UK - The National Trust team at Anglesey Abbey in the Cambridgeshire village of Lode recently opened its gates for its Winter Lights - a night-time trail through the heritage gardens of the listed Jacobean Abbey. Pearce Hire were the clear choice for the Abbey’s events team as they designed and activated the brief for an enchanting 2km lighting and audio nature trail through the grounds and taking in the House, Mill and the aptly named Winter Garden. “We may be better known in the industry for providing technical production support for festivals and tours, but this garden brief really got our creative side going”, says Jim Brown, general manager, Pearce Hire. “This year’s production took on another dimension and we were very happy to embrace this, and work in close collaboration with the team at Anglesey Abbey to help achieve their vision. “
USA - Extreme Lighting & Sound (ELS) recently wrapped up its first season presenting Holiday Wonders at Bowie Nature Park in Fairview, Tennessee. The drive-thru holiday light show featured atmosphere-generating effects from a large amount of Elation lighting gear along with custom pixel products and proved a huge success. ELS was approached by the city of Fairview in September to create and run the show after an initial contractor pulled out, which gave the design and production company only two short months to get everything together. “We agreed to do the Christmas light show but knew we were on a tight schedule as opening day was scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving,” recalled ELS president Austin Grundberg about the start of the project. “We basically put the whole show together in eight weeks from design, product specification/supply and setu
Jordan - Amman Academy’s new theatre space is open for 2022, offering students and educators professional lighting with a range of Strand and Vari-Lite luminaires and control from Signify. The private school, which is renowned in Jordan for its academic excellence, constructed the new theatre space to offer performance, rehearsal, and meetings facilities. Its lighting solution needed to be adaptable, encourage creativity and provide reliable workhorse and effects fixtures. The Academy’s team approached Amman-based International New Technical Est. (INTE), a systems integrator specialising in theatre installations. INTE’s project manager Hashem Nazzal specified a Strand Neo console for control, with the Vari-Lite VL2600 Spot on colour-rich effects duty. “One of the most important requirements of this project was flexibility and effects options, and the VL26
Singapore - Ayrton has announced the further expansion of its international team with the appointment of Vijay Thaygarajoo as regional sales manager for Asia Pacific. The appointment takes effect from 1 February 2022. Vijay brings over 10 years of industry experience in the region, working with Ayrton’s local distributor and as regional sales manager for a number of industry manufacturers. “I am very excited to be joining the amazing team at Ayrton,” says Vijay. “As the RSM of Ayrton, I will be responsible for maintaining and building relationships with current distributors as well as appointing new distributors around the APAC region, with the aim of progressing and further strengthening the Ayrton brand and image in this part of the world. “I’ve seen the quality of Ayrton lighting over the years and am very impressed with the full range of lighting
UK - CrowdGlow has announced the next generation of the CrowdGlow phone lighting system which enables lighting designers to take live control of an unlimited number of phones at events. This development of the system uses new CrowdNet technology to control phones with 10 times the data payload and at speeds of up to 120 times faster than before. while maintaining a range of over 250 meters per transmitter. The extra payload and speed has enabled an array of new capabilities., including eight-bit RGB screen colour, new intelligent effect modes and more advanced LED flash control. The extra speed allows up to 120 frames per second of control, making it easier than ever to synchronise the phone light show to the music and on-stage lighting production. With the new CrowdGlow Broadcast MacOSX app, lighting designers can now patch the audience’s phones directly into
The Netherlands - The Mariakerk church in the small town of Oirschot, in the southern Netherlands, has been fitted with Prolights EclDisplay fixtures, a series of small LED spotlights made for fixed installations. The retrofit included the EclDisplay DATWhite black fixtures, in 3,000K, with 25° - 50° wash lenses. The units are currently set in stand-alone mode but prepared to take a DMX data line, so it can later be controlled through the lighting protocol. The EclDisplay series includes a 25W white LED emitter and data control through DMX, Dali T6 or knob-dimming. The series score over 90 in CRI and have a very efficient output thanks to the redesigned source and optics. “We wanted to change the older tungsten units with a more efficient source,” said Jos Tra of Muziek Service Schijndel, the company behind the installation. “The EclDisplay series looked like
UAE - Despite the pandemic, Dubai celebrated the arrival of 2022 in style, with a grand festival of events. Principal among these was the Laser & Light Show at the mesmerising Burj Khalifa, created and produced by ECA2 with Patrick Awouters (LSE) at the helm of the light and laser element of the production. The company also drew on its inventory of PR Lighting fixtures, deploying 250 of its newly-acquired Aqua 580 Beam waterproof moving heads. These lined up alongside 60 RGB lasers, ranging from 60W up to a powerful 100W. The fully-featured IP66-rated Aqua 580 Beam produces a powerful output from a 550W engine, housing PR's patent optics and a tight 2° beam angle. They were recommended by LSE MD Patrick Awouters, project managing the lighting with his son Nathan. The fixtures had been purchased specifically for this project. Awouters admits that rigging th
Germany - Rental and dry hire service specialist NicLen, headquartered in Dortmund, has made a major investment in Robe moving lights - with a three-figure quantity of Fortes and iSpiiders delivered by Robe Germany which is now available from current rental stock. The NicLen CEOs Nico Valasik and Jörg Stöppler comments: “Fortes are appearing increasingly frequently on event and artist riders and requests for this fixture have increased substantially this year since the product was launched. We ensure that our clients have the very best tools at their disposal to help achieve spectacular results.” The Niclen team were impressed generally with Robe’s Transferable Engine (TE) LED technology which is at the core of the Forte and see it a key feature for a busy rental facility. The NicLen crew also like the colour mixing, zoom range and the overall light and image q
USA - It isn’t listed in the credits, but the city of Los Angeles skyline with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background played a key supporting role in the HBO Original series Insecure. Many of the most memorable scenes in the multiple Primetime Emmy Award winning show, took place against this backdrop. Given the skyline’s association with Insecure, it was only fitting that Los Angeles’ Kenneth Hahn State Park, which affords 360-degree views of the city, was chosen as the site for the red-carpet event celebrating the comedy’s final season premiere. “This beautiful and expansive park was perfect for our event,” said Barrett Hall of Invoke Entertainment, which oversaw all creative and technical aspects of the premiere screening and after party. “The site is in close proximity to the neighbourhoods where much of the series took place. Also
World - Over 1,200 people representing more than 60 countries around the world have already registered for ETC’s 2022 CUE conference. The 24-hour event is slotted for 17 February and starts in Asia at 11:00am HKT with a keynote address from ETC’s vice-president of marketing David Lincecum. This is followed by the European sessions, which will take place from 10:00am to 5:00pm GMT. ETC staff and other industry experts follow with a series of sessions over the course of the day in multiple time zones and multiple languages including French, German and Russian. The conference wraps up in North America at 5:00pm CST. The agenda will cover the topics impacting the live events industry. Session topics include product technology, building theat
USA - The Breakers resort nestled on 140 acres of ocean front property on Palm Beach, has been a favourite gathering spot of world leaders and celebrities since it opened its grandiose doors in 1896. Recently, a new chapter was written when The Breakers hosted a two-day private birthday celebration produced by Todd Events that began with a performance by Grammy Award winner John Legend. Setting an appropriately glittery mood for the affair was a sophisticated lighting design by Tony Milliet that featured Chauvet Professional Maverick, Rogue and Ovation fixtures as well as MVP LED panels supplied by See Hear Productions. Milliet worked closely with the See-Hear team: Patrick Theriot, production designer; Stephen Barnette, LD for the courtyard; and Scott Lewis, production manager; as well as Austin Breckenridge and Jeff Kurihara. Todd Fiscus, event designer and Kristin
Australia - AV production company Novatech Creative Event Technology was involved in a large winter event in Adelaide, called Illuminate Adelaide and supplied Elation’s IP65 Proteus Hybrid moving head for a special lighting installation that left a memorable impact. Billed as a celebration of innovation, music, art, light and technology, Illuminate Adelaide lit up the city with a programme of events. As presenting partners, Novatech was the technical supplier of the event’s signature project - Light Cycles. Illuminate Adelaide engaged Montreal-based multimedia studio Moment Factory for the creative, design and immersive content while Novatech provided all the gear and crew. As a featured artist at the new annual event, Moment Factory took over Adelaide Botanic Gardens with Light Cycles, an outdoor digital art experience that used light and music to
USA - Metallica treated their fans to two epic concerts at San Francisco’s Chase Centre in December, celebrating 40 years of music and performance. Lighting designer Rob Koenig collaborated closely with production designer Dan Braun whose stunning visual architecture - featuring 45 large multi-layered and overlapping video surfaces - set the visual tone for this in-the-round live retrospective. While the screens were key for showcasing playback video, interviews, artwork, and other archival material spanning the last four decades, lighting highlighted both Metallica and their audience. Needing a powerful, dynamic, and flexible lighting solution for these shows, Rob and Dan chose 148 Robe BMFL WashBeam moving lights to be the heart of the lighting rig, plus another 16 BMFL WashBeams which were running on four RoboSpot systems. Apart from 19 x moving LED bars, th
