On behalf of the studio ‘La Bande à Paul’, we created two immersive installations for the exhibition ‘Vimy – Beyond the Battle’.

The aim of this exhibition is to immerse visitors to the museum in the context of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the commemoration of the memory of the soldiers who fell at the front.

The war tunnel

The Tunnel of War is an artistic and interactive light installation designed to provoke a sudden feeling of stress and discomfort in response to war and battle. This feeling is reinforced by the constantly moving projection and the confined space that imprisons visitors. The latter is designed as a long, narrow, dark corridor.

On one side of the tunnel, the projection depicts a battlefield in progress. Cannons spit shells, smoke billows from craters, silhouettes of soldiers patrol and charge, like ghosts on the battlefield. Visitors participate passively in the installation. As they pass through the tunnel, a camera captures them and integrates their forms into the battlefield amidst other silhouettes of soldiers. The result is both realistic and compelling.

The wall of commemoration

The second installation, The Wall of Commemoration, is more symbolic. Each of the lights on this wall represents one of the 3,598 Canadian soldiers killed at Vimy between 9 and 12 April 1917. The lamps light up and pulsate, embodying the lives of these soldiers. They are individually triggered by the presence and movements of visitors.

The wall becomes increasingly luminous and active as more and more visitors arrive. Visitors feel a real connection with these soldiers, and become aware of the real number of lives lost during the battle. As their presence affects the intensity of the wall, visitors can reflect on their role in the commemorative process.