ETC has announced that the company supplied a range of lighting, dimming and control equipment for the third Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres (World Festival of Black Arts and Cultures) in Dakar, Senegal.
“The brief was to supply all the equipment they needed, with an emphasis on high spec and ease of use,” said Jean Louis Pernette, sales director at ETC’s French distributor, Avab. “We were also told that they needed the equipment fast – in fact, we only had a couple of weeks from the time we received the quote request to the delivery date.”
Because ETC keeps all its major products in stock in Europe, Pernette knew the delivery schedule wouldn’t be difficult – the entire 42 pallets making up the delivery could come straight out of the warehouse.
“We supplied two Congo and two Congo junior control desks across the three festival venues, to make sure they had enough backup,” he continued. “Each hall also took delivery of Source Four PAR and profile luminaires and Selador Lustr LED fixtures, as well as SmartPack rack mount dimmers.”
Following the festival, some of the equipment stayed at the venues (Théâtre National Daniel Sorano, Centre Culturel Blaise Senghor and La Biscuiterie de Médina, a multipurpose venue), while the rest went into flight cases supplied by Avab, ready to be transported across the country wherever it might be needed. “Part of the appeal of ETC Selador,” said Pernette, “is that it does not require dimmers, and so can be plugged straight into the lighting control desk. This is a real plus point, because it makes it so much easier and quicker to set up than many other types of lights. And with electricity being limited across much of the region, Selador’s low power usage makes it much more practical.”
This was the third time the festival has been held, with the last one in 1977. As the continent celebrates 50 years of independence of French-speaking Africa, the festival, which is free of charge, brings together theatre, cinema, dance and literature to convey a vision of the continent as free, proud, creative and optimistic.
“ETC is able to offer a new generation of lighting which is well adapted to the needs of a much wider audience,” added Pernette. “The project was managed by Syndiely Wade, the President’s daughter, and we were in direct contact with Abdou Diouf, the technical manager of the festival. They both were very appreciative of the efforts we put in to get everything on site in time, and making sure all the staff were fully trained in its use.”
“The Senegalese technicians particularly appreciated the ease of implementation of the various fixtures and their easy set-up, especially the advantages of the Source Four PAR optics. They also noticed the simplicity of Lustr’s wiring and DMX allocation, and all the colours that could be provided directly from the Congo control desks.”
“As soon as the equipment arrived, the technical team realised the advantages this ‘all in one’ light would offer,” he concluded. “The Théâtre National Daniel Sorano’s lighting manager, Sorano Amadou Waly Diouf, told me that he thought it was superb.”
ETC’s Lustr LED fixture is one of a range of LED fixtures, each optimised for the different types of colour a lighting director might want to achieve. It produces warm or cool pure white light slowly evolving into the softest tints and colour shadings, offering theatrical-quality whites and tints that render pigments and skin tones in their natural appearance. The frosted optics create a soft beam of light that blends well with traditional luminaires.
