Yesterday the space was empty, by last night almost all the partitions were up! The speed at which they work here is amazing we have a great team!
The Museum entrance taking shape
Central partition
Tomorrow the cabinet carcasses will be there!
Archives For November 30, 1999
The installation has started, the ceiling has had its first coat of paint, the concrete floor has been sanded and sealed, the windows have been blacked-out.
Blacked out windows
The room as it looks now
Floor sanded and sealed Ceiling painted
The Cabinets have arrived after a 3 days journey from Bahrain, where they were made, through Saudi Arabia
The Cabinets are here!
This morning I am meeting the team of carpenters and the setting out starts, can’t wait!
This is the ground floor reception, as you can see work is still in progress
Ground Floor Reception
You might be wondering what this round white thing on the ceiling is… it is a stage which can be lowered. For the opening we will have a magic lantern show in this space which will be blacked out!
The Stairs
The other side of the ground floor with the stairs leading to the Museum space, these are just a template and not the finished stairs! The black tracks on the floor will be lights showing the path to the first floor.
Here is the space, about 400m2 of it!
The Plan
Below is how it looks now, all the windows will be blacked out, the floor will be concrete with a resin finish and the ceiling and walls painted very dark blue.
Seen from the entrance
Facing the entrance
As you can see some way to go but the space will be ready by the first week of November when the cabinets arrive.
This is the building, MCN Tower in the heart of TECOM Media City.
Located just minutes away from the Internet City Metro stop and directly off Sheikh Zayed Road, right next to all major roads and close to The Greens, Dubai Marina, Mall of the Emirates and Ibn Batuta Mall.
Another view
Reception is at ground floor level and we are on the first floor
Catching the light, the Dubai Moving Image Museum
Thousands of years ago man was already attempting to recreate movement through his art on the walls of caves, the Greeks had a basic understanding of optics and the Chinese experimented with shadows.
The museum will take you on a journey through the ages showing the development of visual entertainment all the way to the birth of the cinema.
30 years ago Akram Miknas bought his first optical toy, a Kinora, and this was the start of a collection covering 200 years and more of what we know as optical toys or precinema.
Having built a collection of too many objects to count Akram Miknas decided that the time had come to open a Museum and so in May he persuaded me to visit him and have a look at what he had, was there enough for a museum? Well I tell you there was enough for several museums…
His next question was did I want to help him realise this dream? This was an offer to be involved in the most exciting project I have ever been involved in, what could I say? Wow yes!!
Deadline December 2012… and incredibly thanks to his enthusiasm and energy we are getting there!
I will not go through all we had to do but I will update you regularly on our progress, I am off to Dubai on Thursday and I will post from there next.
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