Immersive light installation transforms 17th-century church in Amsterdam

A spectacular light show inspired by the creation of the world has opened in Amsterdam. The display takes place inside the 17th-century church Oosterkerk. All are projected in vibrant colors across the interior of this historic building. Visitors just need to lie back and enjoy the show taking place above their heads. “The goal of this experience is really to allow people to take kind of a spiritual journey. So it's really the objective is to freeze time and make them forget about it and have this spiritual awakening. So, we really want to give people the freedom of deciding how to interpret this experience,” says Sofia Recchi, global project manager at Fever & Projektil, the Swiss art collective behind the event. The audiovisual extravaganza tells the story of the creation of the world. It's called Genesis, an appropriate name given its religious venue. “Genesis, the story in itself, we've done before. We've done in different cities before. However, what makes it special is, as I said before, the architecture of this church. So, the story is the same. However, it's been completely catered to this building. And that's why also the church itself plays a part of the story,” says Lieve de Brauw, producer at Fever & Projektil. The show has already visited Barcelona, Frankfurt, and Lyon, among other cities. But this is a special edition, due to the location. The Oosterkerk was opened in 1671 when Amsterdam was a center of shipbuilding and the maritime trade of the Dutch East India Company. In 1969, in order to save the building from falling into ruin, the Municipality of Amsterdam bought the building for the symbolic sum of one guilder. The church became a venue for concerts and exhibitions in 2022. Genesis opened on December 13 and will run until the end of February. The show runs for 30 minutes. This article was provided by The Associated Press.