The Halifax Citadel Heritage Centre is the cornerstone exhibit at one of Halifax’s most iconic tourist attractions. GMLD provided complete lighting design for the exhibit including art, artifacts, interactive multimedia elements and experiential spaces. Gabriel Mackinnon has decades of experience illuminating exhibits, and designed a full lighting system for this multi-room exhibit, with luminaires integrated into experiential rooms, artifact cases and features. Track lighting is used to allow careful aim and focus of the light fixtures, with accessories like barn doors and filters used to tailor light colour and limit glare and spill.

The exhibit is titled “Fortress Halifax: A City Shaped by Conflict” and chronicles the history of Kjipuktuk, through its establishment as “Halifax” in 1749 to the mosaic of a city that it is today. The exhibit recounts stories of the people here – the Mi’kmaq, and settlers of British, French, Acadian, Black Loyalist, and other immigrant cultures. This 6500sqft exhibit combines both traditional and virtual elements, offering a social and military history of Halifax and its impact on the region and the globe as told through the lens of the four forts that stood atop Citadel Hill. Visitors of all ages will enjoy the accessible and experiential nature of this multi-room exhibit.

The exhibit design team worked closely with Mi’kmaq, and other local groups to ensure the materials developed for the exhibit reflect the diverse histories and experiences of the people of Kjipuktuk (Halifax) and Nova Scotia. GMLD is proud to be a part of another successful collaboration with our friends and neighbours at Origin Studios.

Our firm has decades of experience illuminating exhibits and galleries for everyone from Canada’s top cultural institutions to small local galleries and museums. Contact us for assistance with exhibit lighting design.

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