Avignon's Palais des Papes Lights up with Robe ESPRITES posted: 15/09/2020
The famous Palais des Papes in Avignon, France came alive bathed in a vibrant collage of colours, shapes, and textures - thanks to 12 x Robe ESPRITE moving lights - which were part of a design by LD Fabien Chamakoff for the 2020 Helios Festival. Launched in 2017, the event highlights - with silent projection / visual works and light art pieces - Avignon's stunning architecture and rich, diverse heritage as the City of Catholic Popes' between 1309 and 1377. It remained under Papal rule until 1791 when it became part of France. The Palais des Papes (Pope's Palace) is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in the whole of Europe.
For Fabien - who works for the Helios Festival organisation - it was a great honour to illuminate the intricate and imposing architecture, one of seven key sites lit up this year.
The 10-minute Palais des Papes lightshow ran for 5 weeks from 25th July to 30th August. With no soundtrack, Fabien's idea was to focus on a 60 metre wide x 40 metre high section of the building, so passers-by could appreciate the work of renowned French architects, Pierre Peysson and Jean de Louvres, plus the lavish ornamentation of Simone Martini and Matteo Giovanetti, ace students from the School of Siena in Italy.
Initially, Fabien had wanted to use Robe's BMFL fixtures - apart from being a product with which he's very familiar, he wanted the intensity and multifunctionality. However, he realised that there was not enough power available at the site to run these, and they didn't want to shatter the silence and reverence of the environment by having a generator!
He spoke to Chateaurenard-based lighting rental company Fox, who worked closely with the Festival's technical producers ARTCOM Diffusion to supply equipment, and asked if they could suggest an LED alternative and so the ESPRITE profile entered the frame!
Having not used Robe ESPRITES before, Fabien needed to know that they had the required brightness, so a demo was set up at Fox's warehouse instigated by Robe France's Terry Di Isernia.
Fabien was amazed by the ESPRITE's power, its 5.5 - 50-degree zoom, framing shutters, sharpness and all the available effects, commenting that all this would be more than enough for what he needed. Using ESPRITES also enabled him to enhance the aesthetics and style of his lighting work.
Together with Fox's MD Eric Lambertin, they asked if Terry would join the team as lighting programmer and operator for the project due to his experience and intimate knowledge of the fixtures, and Terry was delighted to oblige.
The 12 x ESPRITES were the only lightsources for the Palais des Papes and were rigged on two levels to a special tower positioned 40 metres from the building and clad in weatherised material to protect the lights.
The ESPRITES easily covered the surface area with a diverse range of colours, patterns and effects from fluid movement sequences to playful trick-of-the' eye optical surprises. After the initial programming sessions on site, Fabien was really pleased with the results and declared that the ESPRITE was the most precise moving light that he had worked with to date.
One of his biggest WOW moments of the installation was when Terry fired up the lights for the first time, opening the 12 fixtures at 100 per cent zoom on the side of the Palais des Papes!
Fabien's lighting creations - via his company Lumiere Vivante - are often set in urban environments with high levels of ambient light surrounding, hence the predilection to work with BMFLs. He generally thinks that Robe fixtures are powerful with high quality output and therefore ideal for light art installations and illuminating large spaces, places, and surfaces.
The ESPRITE tower at the Palais des Papes was so well hidden, that initially people thought the lights were appearing from some kind of magical source! And the quality of the gobo projections were so precise and accurate that some believed it to be a video show rather than lights!
The 2020 Helios Festival was a big hit with the public generating lots of interest and also hugely well received by the media.
It was a very positive reason in these times of Covid-19 for people to enjoy summer evenings outdoors marvelling at the pop-up artworks and being able to see and appreciate areas around their city in new, different and stimulating ways.
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
15/04/2026
From immersive storytelling to laugh-out-loud comedies, podcasts are booming in ...
15/04/2026
Books have always moved with us, whether tucked in our bags or humming in our he...
15/04/2026
For many artists, independent venues are where music careers begin and fan communities take shape. Independent venue operators work hard every day to keep local...
15/04/2026
From gripping thrillers to poignant memoirs, the 21st century has had no shortage of unforgettable books. To celebrate the standout storytelling of our modern e...
15/04/2026
Vintage broadcast experts release second plug-in
Telsie T is the second plug-in to be released by SonicWorld, a German audio company who specialise in servi...
15/04/2026
Includes eight free UAD plug-ins
Universal Audio's latest bundle brings together a selection of their renowned plug-ins and virtual instruments, and is ...
15/04/2026
Maximum uptime for broadcasters: Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S BroadcastShield at...
15/04/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, announces the market launch of the ACCE...
15/04/2026
April 15 2026, 13:34 (PDT) EVO Entertainment to Bring Dolby Vision Atmos Across Its EVX Auditoriums
Integration would cover 17 screens across Texas, New Mex...
15/04/2026
Wednesday 15 April 2026
Introducing Smart Home from Sky, a simple way to stay c...
15/04/2026
Wednesday 15 April 2026
The Burbs confirmed to return to Sky and NOW for a second season
Mystery-comedy series, The Burbs, will continue its exclusive resid...
15/04/2026
With new broadcast standards evolving all over the world and OTT streaming striving for the pole position in media consumption, both next-gen video and audio co...
15/04/2026
Harmonic's XOS Media Processor Delivers Exceptional Video Quality to More th...
15/04/2026
Five Decades of Box Office Intelligence: Comscore Celebrates 50 Years of Movie M...
15/04/2026
Two Cities Television and Keeper Pictures to produce six-part series in association with Screen Ireland for RT and ITV Studios
RT has commissioned Two Citie...
15/04/2026
RT 100
RT unveils The Signal' a specially commissioned 60-second film
...
14/04/2026
ToolsOnAir and Omnistream Bring Mobile SRT Contribution into Professional 24/7 P...
14/04/2026
Captures a trio of renowned polysynths
The latest software to join AIR Music Tech's extensive catalogue captures the sound of three sought-after polysyn...
14/04/2026
Free offering includes 10 powerful plug-ins
United Plugins have announced the launch of a new bundle that brings together 10 of their pro-audio plug-ins, an...
14/04/2026
Julian Coryell joins virtual session player line-up
Announced at NAMM 2026, Celemony's Tonalic kits DAW users out with real performances by world-class ...
14/04/2026
X-Rite Pantone Color Academy Grand Opening in Shanghai
On March 27, 2026, X-Rite Pantone, the global authority in color standards and color science, held the...
14/04/2026
14 Apr 2026
VEON and JazzWorld Receive Competition Commission of Pakistan Appro...
14/04/2026
Tuesday 14 April 2026
Nicola Coughlan and Aimee Lou Wood to host next two episo...
14/04/2026
Lead writer and executive producer Jack Lothian joins alongside lead director Je...
14/04/2026
Wuppertal April 14, 2026
Thomas Riedel Acquires Premium Manufacturer ARRIStrategic Alignment With the Riedel Group for Innovation and Growth
Thomas Riedel, f...
14/04/2026
New Service Simplifies Integration of AI Applications with Exceptional Reliabili...
14/04/2026
Luxembourg, April 14, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, today annou...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Composition Builder 2026 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:live pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-ti...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:play pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and U...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...
13/04/2026
Intuitive EQ plug-in gets an upgrade
Following its official launch back in February 2026, Musik Hack's intuitive EQ plug-in has been treated to its firs...
13/04/2026
Flagship soft synth collection expanded
The latest version of UVI's flagship vintage-inspired soft synth collection has just arrived, expanding the suit...
13/04/2026
Free version of innovative string library arrives
Released in October 2025, Lux Orchestral Strings was said to be Sonuscore's most ambitious library to ...
13/04/2026
The Girls' Research Camp is part of the Technology - Future in Bavaria edu...
13/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz transforms submarine communications for real time underwater dom...
13/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz enables Pulsar signal simulation to support next-generation navi...
13/04/2026
The search for Ireland's newest country music star is live on Friday 17 Apri...
13/04/2026
Monday 13 April 2026
Global environmental action NGO WRAP brings recycling to l...
13/04/2026
J nger Audio has joined the EBU ADM Implementers Group (ADM-IG) as a founding me...
Avignon's Palais des Papes Lights up with Robe ESPRITES posted: 15/09/2020 
