Kuwait Calling
A courtyard became a stage for a 40-minute journey through Kuwait.
59 Studio was initially approached with an almost open question: what could happen in the courtyard of Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre?
The answer became a hybrid live performance bringing together projection mapping, contemporary dance, Kuwaiti performers, original music and real-time visual systems across two monumental architectural surfaces.
As Senior Video Designer at 59 Studio, I led the development of the visual content and narrative, shaping the work from early concept and visualisation through production and technical rehearsals.
Role
Senior Video Designer
Created at
59 Studio
Format
Live Performance / Projection
Location
Kuwait City, Kuwait
From an open brief to a live world
There wasn’t a prescribed show to execute. The starting point was the courtyard itself and an invitation to imagine what it could become.
Working with the wider 59 Studio team, we developed the idea of a large-scale hybrid performance built around Kuwait, using the architecture as both canvas and stage, with dance, music and media working together rather than as separate layers.
The piece developed into a 40-minute journey through landscape, memory and history, moving between the sea, sky and land and into more abstract interpretations of Kuwaiti identity.
Call and response
The aim was never to put animation behind dancers. The movement, architecture and image needed to feel connected.
At times the projection revealed the geometry of the buildings; elsewhere it dissolved it completely. Performers carried illuminated staffs that echoed lines moving across the façade, while choreography and media traded gestures back and forth.
Light, projection and movement became different parts of the same visual language.
Making the image live
Part of the ambition was to let performance influence the projected world in real time.
We explored motion capture and Notch-based generative systems, using dancers’ movement to drive elements of the imagery across the architecture. Some movement was captured in advance; other moments responded during performance.
Working live also introduced a new challenge: a generative image is never quite the same twice. Where repeatability mattered, we developed a hybrid approach, combining real-time systems with pre-rendered material so key moments could always be recalled precisely.
Reinterpreting Kuwait
The visual language moved between recognisable references and more abstract expression.
Star charts came alive across the architecture. Shadow play traced moments of history. The burning oil fields of the Gulf War transformed the courtyard into something darker and more visceral.
Alongside Rambert’s dancers, Kuwaiti performers, musicians and vocalists helped root the work in the place it was created for.
The aim wasn’t to illustrate a history lesson. It was to reinterpret familiar stories through movement, image and sound.
Building it together
A project at this scale depended on close collaboration between video, choreography, music, real-time systems and technical production.
Technical rehearsals became part of the creative process, refining a 40-minute performance across two enormous projection surfaces while choreography, content and live systems were still evolving.
Inside the process
Project credits
Senior Video Designer: Max Italiaander at 59 Studio
Developed with 59 Studio, Rambert and Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre (JACC).
Director: Leo Warner
Choreographer: Benoit Swan Pouffer
The production brought together Rambert dancers, Kuwaiti performers and musicians, animation, projection mapping, real-time systems and technical production.
The show reached final technical rehearsals but was unable to open publicly after COVID-19 restrictions halted the event immediately before launch.
Production and process imagery courtesy of 59 Studio.