Building bridges with light art
Idea: Culture that shows magnitude.
The ASCC (Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Center) in Kuwait is one of the largest and most beautiful museum complexes in the world with 22 galleries and over 3,000 exhibits.
To mark the first anniversary of the cultural center, something very special was to be created that would attract attention far beyond the borders of Kuwait. As a result, the light art specialists from Zander & Partner designed the first Kuwait FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, which took place with great success on the ASCC grounds in February 2019. The focus was on the all-encompassing 3D video mapping installation on the facades of the center.
Implementation: Bridges between museum cultures
The Zander & Partner team designed and implemented the entire 3D mapping show for the cultural center as a full service – including international marketing and PR. The content of the festival show was sensitively based on the center’s themes and exhibitions. It consisted of two large parts. The first part illuminated the diverse themed worlds of the cultural center with magnificent images and brought festival visitors closer to the country’s culture. The second part built a bridge between the cultures and presented the world-famous cultural treasures of the National Museums in Berlin.
And the bridge from Kuwait to Berlin went even further. In the fall of 2019, the ASCC became the main partner of the world-famous FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS in Berlin. There, several interactive installations were created around Kuwait and the ASCC. In this context, Kuwait presented a 3D video mapping on the facade of the recently opened James-Simon-Galerie, the impressive entrance portal of the Neues Museum and Pergamon Museum, built by world-famous architect David Chipperfield.
A group of journalists from Kuwait – including from national TV – visited Berlin, went on an exclusive tour of the festival and reported in detail. In addition, an extensive media presence in all print and online media of the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS as well as intensive press work accompanied Kuwait’s impressive appearance in Berlin.
The Zander & Partner team continued to act as a bridge builder afterwards. One follow-up project, for example, was a consultancy assignment to network the ASCC with major museums and cultural institutions in Germany and Europe.
Success: Reach and reputation gained
Thanks to the successful FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS performances in Kuwait and Berlin, the ASCC gained widespread recognition and many new fans. On this wave of success, the Center was able to establish many new connections with important international cultural institutions.
