More than 20 years in the making at a reported cost of $1 billion, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Cairo is the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilisation, housing over 100,000 artefacts. Egypt’s new icon officially opened its doors to the public on 1 November, with a fittingly grand ceremony attended by 40 heads of state and broadcast live to a global audience of over one billion people around the world.
With the eyes of the world firmly upon them and pressure very much on to deliver an event that was worthy of the occasion, MediaHub entrusted HiLights Group with delivering the full technical execution. HiLights Group in turn collaborated with a selection of local and international partners including: Live Legends and Roland Greil (part of the 360 Degree Collective), who produced the lighting design; Lumasky, which delivered an ambitious 5,000-drone light show; Kvant Events Middle East, which provided an epic laser show and laser mapping; and Dirty Monitor, which handled video content for the projection mapping.
Hamed and Ahmed Arafa, cofounders of HiLights Group, shared their company’s process on the momentous event. “Our process started almost six months before the event, during which we were fully involved in gathering the brief and aligning the vision,” they recalled. “We held multiple coordination meetings with all involved authorities and stakeholders including creative, technical, security, and governmental stakeholders, to ensure a unified understanding of the project’s objectives and constraints.”
Photos: Kvant Events Middle East
