'Architect of light' plans to astonish and amaze

For a man who has been described as the "architect of light", Gert Hof, the creator of Friday's keenly awaited light monument at Fort St Angelo, has a sombre air about him, always dressed in black from head to toe, including a black cap and black spectacles.

He could have offered as an explanation for his sullen dress code the fact that it has stuck from his theatre days, which is where his career was born and where everyone wears black for practical reasons.

But Mr Hof sticks to the simple truth. He likes it, he says, as he creates a sharp contrast to the brilliant and colourful posters that line the walls around him, depicting the impressive light shows he has directed for major events, illuminating some of the world's most important cities and architectural landmarks.

Mr Hof arrived in Malta with his 56-strong team, 100 mega searchlights, or space cannon, and eight 40-foot trailers of equipment on Sunday. Preparation along the imposing Fort St Angelo is running smoothly.

His "light monument", which he has been working on since October, is a combination of architecture, lights, lasers, fireworks and music and includes displays at every promontory tip in the harbour, as well as 25 fishing boats, each with a sail-like flag of the 25 EU countries, in the centre of Grand Harbour, and high-altitude fireworks from two barges in the sea.

Mr Hof may boast international fame but, born on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, his origins were not so glamorous.

"I was crazy about Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles but in East Germany we were forbidden to listen to these bands because they were supposed to corrupt youth."

Today, he is working with former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who has written the music that will be played to Friday's "light monument".

Mr Hof has chosen three sections of Mr Waters' opera on the French Revolution, Ca Ira, to which he has choreographed the light show. He believes that the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity are in keeping with the spirit of the event.

Mr Waters' opera is, in fact, being pre-world premiered on Friday night and he was pleased to have his music used for the event. He had already approached Mr Hof to stage the entire opera.

Mr Hof has an interesting, if not tragic history. In 1967, he was imprisoned for 18 months for listening to forbidden western music and lost an eye in the process.

"I was left in a dark cell for a while and, when the door was finally opened and the bright light was let in, I was blinded by it and lifted my hands to cover my eyes.

"But the police thought my reaction was an attack and beat me up with batons. The next thing I knew I was in an operating theatre being told that my nose and jaw had been broken and that I had lost an eye."

Indirectly blinded by the light, Mr Hof has made the latter his life. Among the highlights of Mr Hof's career are the millennium light shows in Berlin, Athens, Budapest and Peking. But his dream stage is the North Pole, with its open and untouched landscape, complete with interesting and reflective ice formations. However, he is realistic, and although he has created the impossible, he knows he would never find enough funding for such an astronomical project.

Mr Hof's roots are in theatre, directing operas and moving on to music bands. In fact, "every time I stage an event, I think of the theatre. The difference is that my stage has no limits, unlike that of a theatre. In Malta, it is not only Fort St Angelo and Grand Harbour, but also the sea and the sky".

His creative process starts with the location and history of the country - the elements that form the basis, Mr Hof explains. The next step is the choice of music, to which he writes the script.

"The music is the mother. It needs to be high quality because I listen to every beat about a thousand times," he laughs.

Mr Hof acknowledged the importance of light early on in his theatre work - the fact that it could create moods and feelings.

On Friday, the feeling he aims to create is one of "astonishment and amazement". He wants to mesmerise his audience, which could reach a billion TV viewers, and "take them aback with surprise... No one ever gets surprised these days," he claims.

The light show happens in the sky, through beams that rise 70km high and the idea is to unite the audience and take them with him on a trip into space. At the same time, Mr Hof would like to create a sense of inner calm, peace and silence.

He is pleased to be experiencing the enlargement of the EU. Having lived behind the Iron Curtain, he is glad to see frontiers opening up and "people from different nations unite and cooperate".