ALD bestows Showlight bursaries
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The bursaries, awarded to Ric Mountjoy, Sherry Coenen and Sandy McRobbie, contribute to the costs of attending the event, such as registration, travel and accommodation and encourage those lighting practitioners to attend, who may not otherwise be able to take time out from a busy schedule.
Supporting its members for the fourth time in this way, entries for the Showlight Bursary Scheme were judged by members of the executive committee and assessed on the applicants’ reasons for attendance as well as how they intend to report on the event for Focus, the ALD membership magazine.
Showlight chairman, John Allen, highlights the importance of Showlight 2017 for all lighting professionals: “Showlight is always a unique event and in Florence, we are blessed with a city which has a truly magnificent history, surrounding you as you walk from the Duomo to the Palazzo Vecchio, the Baptistry, the Ponte de Vecchio and the Pitti Palace.”
Underlining the direct industry benefits, he continues: “The speaker sessions, the small exhibition of 42 lighting companies and visits to theatres and other cultural centres in Florence are all vitally Showlight. Combine the opportunity to network with theatre consultants, other designers, equipment manufacturers, technicians and programmers from theatre, film and TV in a convivial atmosphere and you have an event that will live long in the memory. Your only question after Showlight will be, 'when is the next one?'”
On a personal level, bursary recipient, Sherry Coenen explains her reasons for applying for the bursary: “Opportunities to hear lectures about how others approach what we do, are few and far between. You have the brief, spur-of-the-moment chat with mates or catch a quick ALD session at ABTT or PLASA, but nothing on the scale of Showlight. It’s an exciting chance to meet people from other disciplines within lighting whom I don't come across in my usual circles.”
Sandy McRobbie agrees, adding “Showlight allows me to catch up with old colleagues and meet potential new collaborators, offering the chance to discuss and compare new products and ideas with contemporaries as well as knowledgeable representatives from many of the major manufacturers. Having finally eased back a little on my workload due to advancing middle age, as well as a slight shift in the types of project I seek out, the ALD's generosity will allow me to attend this year’s event.”
ALD executive director, Ian Saunders, is delighted the ALD offers the bursaries as all lighting professionals should have the chance to attend. He states, “It’s an honour for the ALD to bestow these bursaries. The event only happens every four years and it is always interesting, enjoyable and, unlike other industry events, is completely focused on the creative use of light in a wide variety of applications.”
The ALD is strongly aligned with the event. Speakers at Showlight are readily pulled from the diverse ALD membership and this year in Florence, Italy, Declan Randall will tell of his experience acting as set and projection designer, as well as lighting designer, for an original production of Sister Act in Johannesburg, South Africa. Simon Corder will also tell tales of tigers and elephants in a tropical forest – and how they react to LEDs – as he describes how he relit his original design in the world’s first Night Zoo in Singapore.
(Jim Evans)
