Our latest project with 59Productions, Oman & the World opened at the Royal Opera House in Muscat on the 1st June.

This wonderfully rich and immersive exhibition ‘charts the story of music in a rich and immersive journey from sounds appearing in nature, through the science and techniques of instrumentation, to the role music plays in our societies and inside each of us’ (59Productions). Music was a key interest of the late Sultan of Oman, and the exhibition is a tribute to his passion for musical arts; not only those of Oman, but also internationally & how he was keen to bring world-class musicians to Oman to perform in the Opera House.

As part of the exhibition team, DHA were tasked with creating all of the object, graphic and show sequence lighting across a number of spaces to bring the exhibition to life. We worked closely with the exhibition designers, plus the sound designers (Coda to Coda) to ensure the lighting was tightly integrated with all of the design elements. As the architectural spaces were so carefully detailed, standard track solutions were rejected in favour of a carefully plotted ceiling array that made use of a beautiful ceiling design that also functioned as an acoustic panel system – very important in a space that featured music and sound throughout.

As expected from 59Productions theatrical focus, two key immersive spaces were created for the exhibition as the first and last visitor experiences: here DHA worked with the audio-visual and sound designers to create show sequences that supported the content, changing the lighting to support the audio environment.