Bethan Garland, senior museum events manager at the V & A Museum, comments, "This is one of this year's biggest exhibitions so we wanted to make sure it received the launch it deserved. This meant capturing the spirit of the exhibition whilst remaining sensitive to the building."
Richard Stirzaker, WL's creative producer, comments, "We were approached to offer our creative input and ensure this wasn't a standard launch party but embodied the essence of the Sixties counter-culture. We therefore liaised with Bethan and her team on a variety of ideas, creatively collaborating until we had a concept that reflected their ambition."
WL opted for a theme of 'hero images'. Richard comments, "We thought it would be great to use images of iconic figures from that era as a concept. Therefore, the museum chose a selection of who they deemed to be the most influential and interesting figures from the late Sixties and these were hung all around the space."
Whilst WL provided the production support for the main launch on Monday 5 September, the company also supported the Private Members' Launch on Wednesday along with a smaller event with Sennheiser on Thursday; the audio company being an official partner of the exhibition along with Levi.
As with any event taking place within a public space, the time for preparation on the evening was extremely limited. For the Monday launch, WL had 90 minutes to set up the lighting, audio and scenic elements. For the Private Member launch, they only had 45 minutes. Richard adds, "With any event such as this, you know that time will be an obstacle which is why you need to be as efficient as possible. We had a brief, we created something that the client was happy with and we then had to put it in place - which is exactly what we did."
The exhibition has now opened and will run until 26 February 2017. Bethan comments, "WL were able to deliver a creative proposal within budget. We were really delighted with their service and it was the perfect way to launch an exhibition we are extremely excited about."
The launch marks another example of WL being approached to provide both the technical solutions and creative input on a project. Richard adds, "Records and Rebels was a great event for us to work on, seeing us present the initial creative brief to delivering this on the evening. It was also great to be back at the V and A Museum where we oversaw the installation of the Curtain Up exhibition; highlighting the range of services we offer as a company.
(Jim Evans)
