MARTI N PROFE SSI ON A L MONDO-DR joins Martin Professional in Kristiansand, Norway, for three days of live fixture demonstrations and open discussions with the brand, its distributors, and end users, all set against the backdrop of the city’s Palmesus Festival.
Ph o to s : Al l a n T o f t .
Palmesus Festival is the largest beach party in Northern Europe and, year after year, is recognised for its vibrant lighting and visuals that work alongside its electronic music soundtrack. This year’s event saw Martin Professional’s systems illuminate its two large stages, alongside its sister brand, JBL Professional, providing audio for the Cupra performance area. Oscar Olsson, Production Manager at Nordic Rentals, the AV designers of the event, explained that they specified the lighting fixtures because “they provide amazing visuals and they’re always reliable, that’s what makes a good product in my eyes.” He continued: “Nordic Rentals has worked with the manufacturer for over 25 years – we’ve always primarily been a Martin house.” Though this magazine remains faithful to coverage of fixed and semi-permanent audiovisual projects, the visit to Palmesus Festival was extremely enlightening to how two seemingly contrasting areas of the industry, touring and installation, very often intersect and prompt similar discourses. This was best illustrated in one of the Kristiansand trip’s most notable activities – the Martin Color Lab Innovation Panel. The discussion invited professionals with varying focusses, including
14
I N S I D E V I E W - M AR TI N PRO F E SSI O N A L | WWW.MONDODR.COM
distributors, customers, installers, rental houses, and members of the press, to interact with and learn from Martin Professional spokespeople and experts. Hosted within the city’s Kunstsilo, a significant museum that houses the world’s largest collection of Nordic Modernism, David Glaubke, Director of Global Corporate Communications at HARMAN International, moderated the panel. Glaubke was first joined by Mark Buss, Global Product Line Manager at Martin Professional/HARMAN, who has been with the organisation for over 24 years and has been instrumental in the development of classic product families such as the ELP, ERA, and RUSH. Also presenting at the seminar was Henrik Kristensen, Product Manager for Stage Lighting at HARMAN International. Kristensen has had a significant impact on the creation of workhorse fixtures, having been with the company for 28 years. During this time, he explained, he has been leading global teams of project managers, application engineers, and technical designers, while developing and researching new ways to illuminate a venue. The final expert introduced was brought on to speak from the