Museo Del Oro Lighting, Bogota

Bogota viewed from Monserrate

Greetings from Colombia!

I have enjoyed spending a number of weeks in the capital Bogota which is a bustling city of 8 million, set at an impressive 2,500m elevation.  One of the most famous museums in the city is the Museo Del Oro, or Gold Museum which houses an incredible collection of indigenous gold artefacts and artwork from around Colombia. The myth of Eldorado actually originates in Colombia- there is a volcanic lake outside of Bogota where the Muiscas people threw gold offerings to the gods.

La Balsa Muisca

The Museum has had a recent renovation and two entire levels are devoted specifically to gold artifacts. What struck me immediately when walking through the gallery spaces was the quality of the lighting design and the way the curators had managed to light the gold pieces in a way that really brought out the metallic luster in the objects. On closer inspection through the thick security glass, I was surprised to see an array of custom LED luminaires on top of each of the bulkheads which illuminated the artifacts. The LED colour temperature was a very warm white, almost yellowish to really bring out the gold luster in the artifacts. By using lenses on top of the LED modules, the lighting design creates small yet intense pools of light on each of the artifacts, some of which are only the size of coins.

LED Lighting

In my mind this is an very effective use of LED technology which gives a very impressive result that would probably be difficult if not impossible to achieve with halogen or other conventional luminaires.

Gold Artefact

Gold Artifact