Battery-powered, app-based IP-rated solution a perfect combination for Andreas and Sofia
The site of the fabled city of Tenea in ancient Corinthia, is the location for an archaeological dig, that has excavated a number of important findings and artefacts from the Archaic and Bronze Ages, and Hellenistic to Roman periods. Having started in 2013, the dig takes place over five weeks in September and October each year.
Known today as Chiliomodi, the village also happens to be the birthplace of architect, performance designer and cultural advisor, Andreas Skourtis, who has been working with the excavation team at the Greek Ministry of Culture, under the direction of Dr. Elena Korka. Based in London, he specialises in performance-led spatial strategy, and he is also programme leader Performance Design at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama — University of London.
The excavation site is associated with mystical healings, and digs on Andreas Skourtis’ own plot have yielded ritual structures, underground cisterns, hordes of rare coins and workshop complexes.
This year he partnered with lighting designer, Sofia Alexiadou, a long-term associate, who is also the Programme Director for the BA (Hons) Creative Lighting Control and the MA Light in Performance at Rose Bruford College. To seamlessly bring the various pits to life, particularly during the sunset period, she found an ingenious solution in GLP’s new Nexus range of lighting.
First introduced to these by Nexus Lights Division Manager, Manuel Paulus, on the GLP booth at2025 Prolight+Sound Showin Frankfurt last year, she could immediately see how this battery-powered and app-controlled, wireless IP65 lighting solution — purposefully designed for demanding applications such as this — would not only provide creative freedom, but also provide 24 hours of runtime before needing rapid recharge. Containing48 RGBW LEDs, the vivid, powerful colour palette provided her with numerous options.
Reflecting on her use of Nexus, Sofia admits, “I just fell in love with them and their flexibility, and as a designer immediately started thinking about how I could use it. When I was invited to the archaeological project, I said, ‘I might have something that is absolutely perfect for the space.’
“We started playing around with the 10 different units, moving them around and using different colours,” she explained, “but the most important thing was to follow the architecture of the space.”
Andreas elaborated: “We wanted to create a spatial, scenographic improvisation of the site, and Sofia and I were able to use these wonderful Nexus lights to underline these elements; what we ended up doing was lighting a part of the excavation as if it was the beating heart of the space.
“We tried different colours and different volumes of light … and the brilliant property of these lights was that they were just so easy to install and play with and explore.”
For Sofia Alexiadou a highlight was how the artificial light took over as the sun was setting: “Mixing the natural light of the landscape at sunset … and as it faded watching Nexus take over.
“We were literally in the middle of nowhere, so being able to carry these lights and run them off the app was incredible. As they are battery powered, there was minimum interruption — touching areas that had been covered for centuries. We could play around with the intensity, using all the colours and create something via this new light in an area that had been buried. And because they are so light and flexible, we could place them in areas where we knew they would cause no damage.”
She said the entire installation had been 100% successful. “They were clearly created for performing arts, which is why I wanted to take them out of context — and it worked really well.
“For me as a lighting designer it was an interesting experiment to test the quality of Nexus and examine all the fine hues and saturation that we could achieve against the natural light. It’s extremely flexible, and colour-wise, GLP has created a light that answers every question.
“It’s certainly given us a vision for the future, should we wish to do a more permanent light installation there — and I know I will be using them again.”
The final word, however, comes from Andreas Skourtis: “It was an opportunity to map the site — and do something improvisational, which enabled us to learn something about how lighting can be used to underline a narrative and create atmospheres in a live archaeological excavation. It’s really rare to be able to do that.”
Moreover, it has enabled them to research light within a live archaeological excavation, and to present work as part of the annual site-specific performance-installation event, Performing Ancient Tenea: Fragments, curated and invited by Andreas each October since 2024, as part of his wider practice research project, in partnership with the archaeological team.
Nexus Lights are now being made widely accessible through partnerships with major online retailers, Thomann (Europe), and Full Compass Systems (North America).
