Behind the Design: The TEDxUbud Stage

One of the most exciting aspects of working with the stage at Setia Darma House of Masks and Puppets was the sheer size of the wooden outdoor space. 

Working with an open air stage gave us incredible opportunities to combine high tech and nature to create an amazing design for TEDxUbud. The theme of the event was ‘Make the Light’ and the design rooted itself firmly in playing with light and dark, as the event was held over 7 hours, from late afternoon into the night. We worked with Hatiku Indonesia and Antida Music to bring our vision to life. 

Within an increasingly urbanized Indonesian society that doesn’t spend that much time outdoors, we felt it was important to reconnect the audience with the natural landscape—to enjoy the play of natural light and wildlife flying overhead. We also wanted to connect the content of the TEDxUbud talks with environmental elements such as starscapes and nocturnal animals in the line with speaker subject matters.

We deliberately did not create a backdrop as the ‘backstage’ area opened directly onto a beautiful ricefield and a wall of coconut palms. We chose to light the palm trees in order to create a ‘living backdrop’. Designed to work with the setting sun and a range of decreasing light, the technology, including the 6mx4m LED screen, and lighting was carefully utilized to ensure the entire amphitheater could be part of the experience.

The use of projection mapping on to stage elements and shadow theatre when it became full dark was also a key element of the design. Iconic TEDx elements were also incorporated, including a 5-meter long hand-welded aluminum TEDxUbud logo made in Java and shipped to Bali by boat, and the 4-meter diameter ‘red dot’ carpet.

More 'behind the scenes' design stage details: 

The very first sketch