Facts about Blue Port
With the help of about 9.000 illuminants “Blue Port Hamburg” turns the city harbour into a magical place every two years. In 2008 light artist Michael Batz started illuminating ships, wharfs, bridges, building sites and sea marks, establishing the concept for what would become known as the unique light art project “Blue Port Hamburg”.
How everything began
During the FIFA World Cup in 2006, when Germany hosted the event, Michael Batz installed illuminated blue goal posts on top of exposed buildings all over Hamburg. Pictures of his mystically shimmering installations were passed across the world, where they met a fascinated audience. This first installation involving blue light paved the way for his internationally admired project “Blue Port Hamburg”, which will lend a glamorous gleam to the city’s harbor for a fourth time this year.
The power of light
Michael Batz came to appreciate the power of light fairly early. Having started his theater career as a screenplay author at the Studiobühne Marburg, he regularly helped lighting the stage. “I realised how powerful light and the right or wrong use of it can be. It can either make an actor’s performance more powerful or it can destroy him.”
Blue Port Hamburg
Blue Port 2014 will start on the 28th of July with an official light up. Various ships, barges, ferries and even a floating crane from HHLA will form a blue glowing harbour parade. After the light up Blue Port will take part at the same time as the Hamburg Cruise Days from 1st of August until the 3rd of August 2014.
Illuminated highlights
The project illuminates Hamburg’s nocturnal harbour line, setting a soft blue glow to its most beautiful hotspots. Especially spectacular and very much anticipated: the fully illuminated Köhlbrandbrücke.
