The Global Alchemy

When light becomes language...

We've had the privilege of collaborating with the extraordinary Kari Kola across some of the world's most breathtaking light art projects and watching his latest work, Lighting the Sound, come to life in Albany, Western Australia is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Produced by FORM WA and funded in partnership by the City of Albany and Lotterywest, this immersive installation transforms King George Sound's natural coastline and landmarks into a meditative canvas of light. Co-designed with Menang Elders and the Albany community, it is rooted in tens of thousands of years of First Nations connection to country and is now the largest light installation on Earth to date. 15km of light art.

This is exactly the kind of investment in public art that transforms communities. Events of this scale don't just move people emotionally, they drive visitation, economic activity, and global attention to the regions and the cultures that inspire them. A profound return on every level.

Kari has always had an extraordinary gift for making us see the world differently, through castles, Stonehenge, symphonies and now the ancient coastline of Menang country. This is light art at its most profound.

The final weekend is this Friday 27th to Sunday 29th March. Entry is free.

🌊 Albany, WA
🕕 Starts 6:00 PM each evening

Don't miss it. 🙏

Yesterday The Global Alchemy’s Derrin Brown was back at ICMS in the Castle at Manly for a masterclass panel: **Behind the Big Moments: Risk, Power, and Public Reality**.

It was a cracking session alongside Craig Sheridan APM, Fergus Linehan and Kat de Jersey, unpacking what sits underneath the moments people actually remember. Not the glossy highlight reel, but the real mechanics of live delivery: governance, stakeholder dynamics, public accountability, risk discipline, and the calm decision-making that keeps experiences safe, meaningful and on track.

The best part was the students. Their questions were sharp, specific, and practical. They pushed past the romance of “big events” and into the reality of the work: who holds decision rights, how priorities collide under pressure, and what happens when conditions shift in real time and the crowd (quite reasonably) does not care about your run sheet.

A few reflections we’re taking forward:

Risk is not a form. It’s a mindset.
Trust is infrastructure. Without it, no plan survives contact with reality.
Clarity scales. Complexity does not.

Thank you to Janene Wardrop MEM and the ICMS team for the invitation, and for creating space for honest conversations with the next wave of sport, culture and live events leaders.

We had a wonderful time contributing to the Australia Day celebrations on Sydney Harbour yesterday.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT-UZxJCL9U/?igsh=dXBkc3J5aTJmMTA=

And that's a wrap on Australia Day 2026! Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebration of our great nation, we can't wait to do it all again with you next year 🇦🇺 ✨ #AustraliaDay #AusDaySyd

We are proud to share that Derrin has again been invited to join the jury for the 16th edition of the Eventex Awards. Thats his third consecutive year!

Eventex celebrates the world's most outstanding events and experiences, recognising work that pushes creative and experiential boundaries. Being trusted to help review projects from across the globe is a genuine honour.

If you are working in events, experiences, or creative innovation, you can find out more and register your interest here: https://eventex.com/

We are looking forward to seeing this years submissions!

As we close out 2025, here’s one idea that kept showing up in our work across cities and events.

The Kuleshov effect.

It’s a film concept: show the same neutral face, then change the shot beside it, and the audience feels a completely different emotion. The face does not change. Context does.

That is how people experience cities and live events.

A precinct is not judged by one “big moment”. It is judged by the sequence: the walk from transport, lighting and wayfinding, the first 90 seconds, the threshold into the venue, the human interaction when someone needs help.

And the same is true for events.

A brilliant show after a chaotic entry lands differently. A simple food offer after a beautifully paced arrival suddenly feels premium. Even safety messaging can feel supportive or harsh depending on what people experienced in the moments before it.

Innovation is not always new tech or bigger content. Often it is better editing.

Curate the order of moments. Shape perception. Build trust. Create memory.

We have turned this into a short carousel. Have a look and tell us: what was your biggest city or event takeaway from 2025?

Wishing you, your teams, and your communities a safe, restorative and hopeful New Year, whatever you celebrate and however you mark the moment.

At The Global Alchemy we have been looking a little closer to home and asking what is missing from our “innovation in cities” conversations if we are serious about liveability in Parramatta.

We talk a lot about infrastructure, housing and transport. All essential. What we talk about far less is how people actually experience the city in their daily lives. That everyday layer is where gamification, backed by smart technology, can shift Parramatta from functional to genuinely vibrant.

Imagine Parramatta Square, the river foreshore and Harris Park connected through playful, data informed city quests. People are rewarded for exploring local businesses, engaging with heritage and discovering public art. Smart sensors, QR codes, AR overlays and real time dashboards are not toys. They are tools that can turn a standard events calendar into a continuous, city wide engagement platform.

In practice, that might look like:

• A “playable corridor” along the river, where lighting, sound and sensors respond to movement and guide people into Harris Park, the CBD and Eat Street.

• Major events at CommBank Stadium and Riverside Theatres extending into the streets as collaborative quests with local venues before and after the show.

• A living Heritage Trail using AR, audio stories and digital stamps to reveal layers of Parramatta’s social history and reward people for returning with friends.

Cities from Helsinki to Singapore already use playful tech to encourage walking, support traders and deepen cultural participation. There is no reason Parramatta cannot adapt these ideas to its own stories of place.

If we want a more liveable city, we need to design for curiosity, not just compliance.

At The Global Alchemy, we do not see heritage sites as “old stuff” to be fenced off and forgotten. We see them as some of the most powerful creative assets a city has.

Those brick warehouses, civic halls and former institutions across Western Sydney and beyond can do much more than sit in a brochure. When you weave in light, sound, story and hospitality, they become stages for Indigenous voices, local histories and new ideas.

Think projection art on historic facades, immersive audio walks that reveal hidden stories, food experiences that celebrate migrant communities, and curated programs that bring schools, artists and small businesses into the mix. Treated as living creative infrastructure, heritage places build identity, grow dwell time and turn “background buildings” into real precinct anchors.

This is the kind of work we love to do at The Global Alchemy. Helping cities, councils and partners switch on this cultural power grid through events so that heritage is not only preserved. It is performed.

How is your city using its heritage places for events right now?

INNOVATION IN CITIES: Rethinking the Power of Wayfinding

At The Global Alchemy, we believe great cities are built on more than infrastructure and clever planning. They’re built on experiences — the subtle moments that shape how people move, feel, and connect. Wayfinding is one of those quiet forces that can make or break an experience.

It’s more than a sign on a pole. Modern wayfinding blends design, technology, accessibility, and user behaviour to create navigation that feels natural. When it works well, people don’t just get from A to B — they feel confident, welcome, and curious enough to explore.

We’ve highlighted two global standouts in our latest Innovation in Cities series:

• Gatwick Airport, using BLE beacons and AI voice assistance to guide people through one of the most complex environments imaginable.
• Pladia, a dynamic digital mapping platform transforming how visitors navigate precincts, events, and city centres through real-time, personalised information.

The lesson? Smarter, human-centred wayfinding helps cities come alive. It supports safety, accessibility, and flow and it encourages deeper engagement with the places and communities we value.

We’d love to know: where have you seen exceptional wayfinding in action? What cities or events are getting this right?

Light. Colour. Connection.

The Cumberland Diwali Festival was pure joy — two days of celebration that lit up Western Sydney with incredible performances, delicious food, and the unmistakable energy of community coming together.

It was an absolute pleasure for The Global Alchemy to collaborate with NM Live and the Cumberland City Council Events Team on this vibrant Festival of Lights.

Events like this remind us why we do what we do — creating experiences that bring people together, build belonging, and showcase the creativity and diversity that make our cities shine.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this festival so special. Here’s to more moments that spark connection and celebrate community.

Today we joined the NEON Global Forum, an inspiring gathering of creative thinkers, policy makers and industry leaders shaping the future of our night-time economy.

Together with Katrina de Jersey, we connected with Janene Wardrop, Wai Yin, and Victoria Johnson, and caught up with teams from Inner West Council, Liverpool Council, the City of Canterbury Bankstown and Lakemba Nights, plus our friends at AV1, all leading the charge in community activation and placemaking across Greater Sydney.

The Data After Dark session was a standout, exploring how collaboration and shared data between government and industry can transform insight into genuine community and economic impact. We also loved hearing global perspectives from Yoshihito Kamada, Dr Alessio Kolioulis, and Dr Andreina Seijas on building vibrant, inclusive and safe cities after dark.

Huge credit to the NSW Office of the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner for bringing together such a forward-thinking forum. It’s proof that the night-time economy isn’t just about what happens after hours — it’s about connection, creativity and collective impact.