CLIENT: Sicilying for the Italian National Order of Engineers
WHY: On the occasion of the 67th National Conference of the Italian Order of Engineers, we were asked to provide and manage all of the audiovisual technical services for three social dinners that would host more than 1,200 participants.
Although for the first two evenings, held at the Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò and the Radicepura conference centre, we were commissioned to develop a conventional, albeit complex and decidedly high level, technical project, for the third evening it was agreed that we would dare to do
something new, something the Order had never tried before...
WHEN: 26 - 28 September 2023 / WHERE: Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò, RadicePura, Piazza Vincenzo Bellini and the Teatro Massimo V. Bellini in Catania.
WHAT: The technical projects for the first two evenings were developed freely by us, with regard to the spaces and the Order’s objectives, but the third evening presented a complex creative challenge: make a dinner, taking place in the prestigious piazza that is home to the Teatro Vincenzo Bellini, dedicated, of course, to the Etnean composer, memorable. Traditionally, the Order’s gala has always been extremely understated, therefore we thought about what could make a strong impact, be elegant and could tell the story of the area and its history and, at the same time, celebrate the importance of the Bellini opera house. Video mapping on the theatre’s façade could be just the thing...
HOW: The design and preproduction of the video mapping took a few weeks, in which the themes to be addressed and a temporary outline were decided upon. Instead of the usual geometric effects to the rhythm of music, it was decided that we would tell a story that began with the formation of Mount Etna over 500,000 years ago.
This was followed by the blossoming of unspoilt Mediterranean flora, before jumping much further forward in time, shifting the focus to the theatre with a giant hand that sketches out the blueprint, which in turn becomes real through painstaking construction work that transitions from scaffolding to
the completed theatre.
The sound of an orchestra tuning up introduces the first performance that took place in the theatre, an unforgettable Norma by Bellini, sung by the extraordinary Maria Callas: the singer appears majestically on the front of the theatre in a period recording, whilst the notes of her voice as she starts to sing Casta Diva give life and movement to the entire theatre. The rhythm changes once again and the mapping focuses on single architectural elements of the
façade, magnifying the faces of the sculptures scattered along it, culminating with the face in the centre - that of Vincenzo Bellini.
