TARQ ART GALLERY

3000 sq ft | Completed | Mumbai, India

The lighting for TARQ, a contemporary art gallery located in the historic district of Apollo Bunder presented unique challenges to the process of upgrading the architectural lighting. Site constraints included working with the height constraints of the existing architecture and the open windows that showcased dramatically different daylight conditions.

Studio Trace designed a lighting scheme which gave the gallery team a high degree of flexibility and control. The artworks could now be perfectly lit, without any worries of glare or distracting reflections. The track supports were moved back from the wall to prevent shadows falling on the art. 

We worked within the constraints of low ceiling heights and the existing ceiling structural grid to design a lighting system that integrated seamlessly with the old controls without issues of flicker. Great emphasis was placed on the specification of  light fixtures to ensure that the colors of the art displayed read correctly without any distortion. 

The art catches your attention and each detail is carefully lit to showcase its brilliance - like the delicacy of a papercut sculpture, the translucency of a layered watercolor, the intricacy of a pencil drawing or the magnificence of a backlit collage. 

The project was completed in phases over 2 years to ensure the scheduled art shows were undisturbed. This meant working with the existing ply support system within the ceiling and carefully fine-tuning the fixture spacing.

We also conducted intensive hands-on training session with the TARQ team, teaching them different techniques of lighting artworks across mediums. 

Photographs - Studio Trace Films