The British Museum has collaborated with projection mapping specialist Pixel Sharp to create a large-scale AV installation on the White Cliffs of Dover ahead of the Bayeux Tapestry’s return to England in September.
The projection-mapped display, which took place last week, combined four Panasonic RQ35K 4K laser projectors with a Datapath Fx4 display controller, MadMapper projection-mapping software and Anker Solix F3800 rechargeable lithium battery systems to illuminate the iconic chalk cliffs. Content for the installation was created by Elliot Wheatland-Clinch, senior content producer at the British Museum.
Pixel Sharp, led by Jon Sharpe, was selected to deliver the project, drawing on its previous experience of projection mapping along the White Cliffs. The installation was designed as a visual thank you to France for loaning the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
The tapestry will go on public display at the British Museum, in London, from September 2026 until July 2027, marking its first appearance in England for almost 970 years.
The loan has been described as one of the museum’s most significant exhibitions in recent history. Anthony Pickles, the British Museum’s director of communications, said the project had required an extraordinary effort from staff over the past year.
He wrote on social media: “It was about watching an extraordinary team rise to an extraordinary occasion. Over the past year, they have lived and breathed this exhibition. They’ve solved problems that didn’t have obvious solutions, worked quietly behind the scenes, and carried the weight of a moment that will become part of the museum’s history.”
The Bayeux Tapestry, which chronicles the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror’s invasion of England, has remained in France for centuries. Its return to London is being hailed as one of the most significant cultural loans ever agreed between the UK and France.
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