This installation at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival brings the Northern Lights home

The Northern Lights are a must-see and probably on every traveller’s bucket list. There is just something so awe-inspiring, as if an artist is wielding a brush in real time, creating pictures in the sky. For those of us who do not have the leave, bandwidth or budget to see this marvel, a large iridescent black box decisively set at the entrance to the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) at the CSMVS lawns, Mumbai, offered a close second.

With a serpentine line forming to see what was behind its sequinned curtains, just 10 visitors (21 years and above) were allowed at a time. As visitors stepped in, a 12-foot-tall, arresting white sculpture in the centre of the floor-to-ceiling mirrored room suddenly came alive. Deep percussive music played second fiddle to the mesmerising visuals. Soft aquamarine lights mirroring the Northern Lights swirled across the sculpture as the mirrors caught and reflected it. The lights shifted, shimmering from green to blue to purple as the music reached a crescendo. I paused, with no phone to capture these moments, instead standing in awe at the scale, size and the audacity of ambition, all within a single installation. For a brief moment, it transported me to the Northern Hemisphere, and after five minutes, it was back to the balmy night in Mumbai. 

Viewers enjoying the installation
| Photo Credit:
Mounish Bhatt

Like an abstract art

Savour the Pause, an installation at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (available to the public from February 6-8), was presented by the team at Black Dog Soda, in association with sculptural artist and architect Arzan Khambatta and the KGAF, headed by artist Brinda Miller. The installation was ideated and executed to inspire people to take a break from the constant hustle of real life and the overestimation of their digital ones.

“We have actually always been believers in truly immersive experiences to connect with our community, and this takes it a step forward,” explains Ruchira Jaitly, CMO, Diageo India. For the team at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, this collaboration has created an opportunity to bring art and technology together  Brinda states, “Everyone around you is in such a rush, you should be able to enter this space and forget the noise outside. This installation really embodies Savour the Pause, and we found the museum grounds the ideal space for this outdoor and indoor experience. If you’ve seen the Northern Lights, they’re like an abstract painting, so this installation and projection gives you that experience.” 

(From left) Arzan Khambatta and Brinda Miller
| Photo Credit:
Mounish Bhatt

On bucket list

Imagining and executing what the Northern Lights would look like, projected on a sculpture, was no mean feat. Arzan Khambatta, who works with metal, was presented with a unique predicament: “When I pictured the Northern lights, and the brief on Savour the Pause, it was about calmness, softness and a lyrical quality which absorbs you completely. Today the most difficult thing is to do nothing. Here, the music and visuals will force you to pause and take it all in,” he says, adding, “I’d done sharp forms initially for the sculpture, and then spoke to the projection team and redesigned the sculpture add swirls and rounder shapes so the projection flows more organically and the curves accentuate the experience. For an experience like this, glass reinforced fibre is a better medium than metal, because it gives you lightness and texture.”

Suhani Mendonsa, founder, Yellow Spider events, gushed at the installation, “Something I always had on my bucket list was chasing the Northern Lights and that actually came true without any passport, visa or travel at KGF 2026 by my favourite Arzan Khambatta in collaboration with Black Dog soda! A must for all!” For the artist, the intent to synergise art and technology for an immersive experience was clear. “ We wanted to use technology so people can disconnect from theirs,” explained Arzan.

As the lines snaked across the lush gardens along the museum, one thing was clear — immersive experiences, that are based on real world art and travel are a new way to draw in audiences both young and old. For Indians at the equator who cannot go to see the majesty of the Northern Lights, this was a great way to bring the lights to them.