Statues of Light in Singapore

Montréal, February 15, 2008

Montreal company Lightemotion, a lighting design specialist, has created the lighting for Greek Masterpieces from the Louvre, an exhibition on from December 9, 2007, to March 16, 2008, at the National Museum of Singapore. Presented for the first time in Southeast Asia, the show includes 130 exquisite pieces from Ancient Greece, loaned for the occasion by the Louvre Museum.

“We approached the lighting as one would in a theatre, treating the museum pieces like actors on a stage,” explains François Roupignan, founder of Lightemotion.

The designer took advantage of the exhibition’s layout, a creation of GSM Design (sight lines to the works were created in between exhibition spaces, encouraging visitors to play the role of voyeur). In the main areas, François Roupignan has opted for pure white lights and a combination of light and shadow to highlight the shapes and emotions of the works. At the same time, transitional spaces are bathed in a blue light that infiltrates the exhibition spaces, thanks to the sight lines between the areas.

However, the originality of the design lies in the designer’s extra lighting, a mix of colours which changes, depending on where visitors are standing. Dimmable fluorescent fixtures, concealed in the ceiling and high up on the walls, diffuse a light whose colour changes over time. In one hour, the colour evolves from vibrant blue to sky blue, from bright white to ochre to orange. By altering the atmosphere of the various galleries throughout the day, this dynamic lighting design invites visitors to change their perceptions of the works before them.