Inspiring Creativity at Awakening Bangkok 2024
Bangkok’s much-anticipated Awakening Bangkok Festival of Lights returned this year with the inspiring theme, ‘One Light, One Rises.’ Nulty Bangkok’s Associate Lighting Designer, Phraporn (Dream) Kasemtavornsilpa, shares her experience of this year’s event.
This annual celebration, known for revitalising neighbourhoods and fostering community connections, featured 35 stunning installations by local and international designers, along with contributions from talented students. Among the highlights of 2024 was Nulty Bangkok’s collaboration with the Department of Landscape Architecture at Thammasat Design School, Thammasat University—a partnership that brought a unique perspective to this vibrant event.
The collaboration began with an interactive workshop where the Nulty team introduced students to the fundamentals of lighting design, encouraging them to channel their creativity into quick, impactful concepts. Each student team presented their vision, and three standout ideas were selected for further development. After a rigorous process, one team was chosen to bring their concept to life, showcasing their innovation through an interactive, low-budget lighting installation.
The selected concept, Blossoms’ Embrace, transformed Pak Khlong Talat (Bangkok’s largest flower market), into a space of interactive wonder. Reflecting the cyclical beauty of life, the installation uses coloured light to project dynamic flower patterns onto the ground, which bloom as viewers walk by or interact with a touch-sensitive plate. This poetic interplay between light, nature, and human connection mirrors the market’s vibrant seasonal changes—summer, rainy, and winter—drawing inspiration from the flower market’s rich atmosphere.
Nulty added depth and interactivity to the piece by designing an illuminated floor panel featuring a slow-glow animation of blooming flowers, synced with seasonal transitions. These visuals, projected onto the market’s iconic shophouse walls, seamlessly integrated the artwork into the surrounding environment, creating an immersive and memorable experience for visitors.
Blossoms’ Embrace is more than an art installation—it’s a reflection of creativity, community, and collaboration. For the students involved, it offered invaluable hands-on experience in lighting design, sparking a passion for how light can transform spaces and connect people. The Nulty team was proud to be part of such an enriching and inspiring project: engaging with the next generation of designers and empowering them to create through light was a truly rewarding experience, one that perfectly embodies the spirit of Awakening Bangkok.
