Barco Projectors Illuminate First-ever Ghent Light Festival

Barco CLM and FLM rental projectors supported renowned visual artists during the Ghent Light Festival. From January 27-29, 20 international artists and light designers took visitors on a tour as they brought the historic city center to life with light and projection. Twenty-one projectors were installed by longstanding Barco partners XL Video and Spectaculaires.

For the first-ever Ghent Light Festival, a large number of national and international light artists and AV companies joined forces to create a spectacle. XL Video and Spectaculaires opted for Barco's event projectors to support four different artists and artist collectives. In total, eight CLM and 13 FLM projectors supported creations from renowned artists like Pablo Valbuena.

"In recent years, Ghent has invested heavily in scenic lighting for the entire city center," comments Serge Platel from the Ghent Light Festival. "And with this first-ever Light Festival we want to celebrate this award-winning lighting plan and give visitors the opportunity to catch a glimpse of Ghent's unique charm. During the three-day event, the artists will present the most surprising light experiences at several locations throughout the city."

French company Spectaculaires chose Barco's FLM projectors for its show On dirait que..., which turns the façade of the Post Plaza building at the Korenmarkt into a new universe, where light, projections, and sound tell the tale of a young boy who becomes a giant in his dream. Windows and doors morph into toy figurines, and the entire building becomes a fairy tale.

XL Video have supplied Barco CLM and FLM events projectors for the installations N 51 Degrees 2'50" E3 Degrees 43'42, Bbass and Mr Beam. "We are honored to be part of the first Ghent Light Festival," comments Steven Dierickx, manager from XL Video. "We chose to use Barco projectors because we know their reliability and image quality from years of experience. They are exactly what we need for such a high-profile event."

N 51 Degrees 2'50" E3 Degrees 43'42 was an outdoor light projection by Spanish architect and artist Valbuena. Originally created for the Almost Cinema exhibition during the Ghent Film Festival in October, the projection was part of his famous "Urban Installation" series. Bbass -- a minimalist and enchanting installation inside Ghent University's Aula -- combines projected light with graphic animation, architecture and sound. The guiding principle of the Mr Beam project is the relationship between music, image, and location -- realized through a custom-made façade projection on an ancient building near the music conservatory.