General Information on Holography

The Official Offer for

Organizing and Conducting

World Exhibition of Display Holography

'GOLOGRAFIA'

Minsk, Republic of Belarus

July, 2012

The Description of World Exhibition of Display Holography 'GOLOGRAFIA-2011'

World Exhibition of Display Holography 'GOLOGRAFIA-2011' was held in Minsk, Belarus, from October, 1, till December, 20, Year 2011. The chosen venue was the temple of Belarusian sciences - the main building of the National Academy of Sciences. The Exhibition was supported by the Minsk City Executive Committee, the Academy of Sciences, as well as other governmental agencies.

It was widely considered a major event of the year in Belarus' cultural life, as well as a unique event in the world. There has never been such a unique exhibition in terms of a number and variety of exhibits, as there were presented all best display holograms from Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Britain, Germany, Greece, Spain, Canada, China, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Romania, United States Turkey, Ukraine, France, Japan and Sweden; in all - over 150 pieces from 20 countries.

The Exhibition was a huge success: up to 3000 people visited it daily, and often at the entrance there was a long queue of visitors, due to the fact that we had to limit attendance so as not to create overcrowding in the exhibition hall. In less than three months, the Exhibition attracted more than a 100000 visitors. All the major media in Belarus published stories about the Exhibition, it was extensively covered by the main Belarusian and Russian TV channels.

You are welcome to watch online a short movie about the Exhibition, with English subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHJDlYVi4pk&feature=youtu.be

A large part of the visitors was made up by students and schoolchildren. Attracting the young was one of our main goals: making them learn about the history and achievements of holography had the potential to inspire a keen interest in modern technologies and science, stimulate their desire to learn. But of course the Exhibition had a great educational value for all segments of the population.

The Exhibition was compiled by both early holograms and modern works, giving visitors a complete picture of all stages of holography's development. We presented all existing holographic technologies and the most interesting holograms from all around the world created during last 50 years. We made it as popular-scientific as was possible: there were numerous posters with charts and pictures describing the history of holography and the methods used to record all types of holograms. Visiting such an exhibition is equal to a crash course in holography, during which the person receives in-depth theoretical knowledge in the field of holography, and sees its practical applications.

The Exhibition was organized by Belarusian enterprises 'Light Magic' (www.lightmagic.by) and 'Holography Industry' (www.holography.by) - the leaders of the Belarusian market in the sphere of production of display holograms, and security holograms, respectively. 'Soyuz Doma Nashego' provided PR services and advertising strategy, and presently serves as the main marketing center for both the Exhibition and Belarusian display holograms. Leonid Tanin, PhD, a major Belarusian scientist, member of International Academy of Engineering, was the initiator of the Exhibition and Chairman of its Organizing Committee.

The Exhibition included both analog holograms made according to traditional techniques, and modern digital holograms, amazing audiences with the likelihood of objects depicted. Now and then visitors tried to touch the imaginary exhibits, or looked behind them to make sure that this is not a hoax; many refused to believe that there was only a thin photo plate.

The Belarusian company Light Magic Ltd presented a large collection of its own holograms, including unique holograms of Orthodox shrines and historical relics, artistic holograms, and more. Major Russian and Ukrainian holographic studios presented holograms of museum pieces from the Hermitage, the Louvre and other museums, artistic holograms and holographic portraits. All of these pieces were Denisyuk holograms, called by name of a major Soviet scientist who developed an original scheme of recording holograms, which is now widely used around the world.

All the best studios and most renowned holographers of the world were also represented. Those were both analog monochromatic and analog color holograms, rainbow holograms and digital holograms, depicting futuristic landscapes, heroes of popular movies, cartoon characters, portraits, urban scenes, geographical maps and much more.

"As you slowly stroll along the holograms, a huge shark greedily opens its jaw, while a soccer player kicks the ball flying in your direction. A cosmic gun protrudes two feet out of the frame, and as you look down the barrel, you can see the eye of the shooter. The depth of the some holograms is up to 7 meters. These and other holograms come to life under a beam of light and move as you walk past them" - this is how one of the major Belarusian newspapers described the exhibition.

Not surprisingly, such high-tech sparked vivid interest among young people; many of them came to see it several times and stayed there for several hours. The Exhibition had huge educational potential: on seeing the Exhibition, many schoolchildren and students wanted to learn more about physics, optics, chemistry. Perhaps tomorrow they will be the bleeding edge of scientific personnel of the country.

The total number of visitors of the Exhibition exceeded 100 thousand people. The number of publications and stories in the media about the exhibition exceeded several hundred. The population was well informed about the latest technologies, and all organizations involved in the production process (the City's Executive Committee, the Academy of Sciences, various government agencies and business companies) have built a very positive image of themselves in the eyes of the population.

The Exhibition was such a success thanks to long experience in arranging similar events, gained in Belarus. The First All-USSR Exhibition of Holography was held in Minsk in 1978. In subsequent years, the Soviet Holography Exhibition organized by Leonid Tanin has travelled to many countries of the world. The climax of this work was the World Exhibition of Display Holography GOLOGRAFIA 2011 in Minsk, which we propose to show in your country.

The Offer

We propose to bring the World Exhibition of Display Holography to your country with the aim of demonstrating it to the general public. To do this, we propose to use our extensive experience in organizing exhibitions of display holography, accumulated over decades, in terms of infrastructure, the necessary know-how in this area, as well as specially trained staff.

The scale of the Exhibition arranged in your country and its content can be adapted to the demands of the receiving side. Still, the exhibition will be based on structure and content similar to those used for preparing the Minsk Exhibition, for a simple reason that they demonstrated their effectiveness in practice.

The Minsk Exhibition was made up with over 150 holograms from 20 countries. The Exhibition of this size occupied several halls with a total area of 320 m ². The halls had to be specially prepared for the Exhibition by our staff, to create proper surrounding and atmosphere. The concept of the Exhibition's layout and the examples of exhibits are described and shown in the following chapter. The number of the holograms can be reduced or increased according to your demands.

For us this Exhibition is primarily an event of both cultural and social significance, directed towards strengthening peoples' friendship, towards awakening interest in science and technology among children and youth, towards boosting the international development of science and modern technologies, which enriches humanity and helps build a better future for all countries. It was carried out in Belarus with the support of state agencies, scientific organizations and educational institutions, and we believe it is the way the Exhibition of this kind should be organized in your country as well.

We consider the Exhibition to be a non-commercial event, and seek only to ensure that our expenses relating to its organization are recovered. We will be able to calculate what those expenses will come to after the parameters of the particular Exhibition to be held in your country are known: a specific location, number of exhibits and content of the Exhibition, its duration and timing, as well as other conditions.

Your side, in turn, will be able to recover the costs connected with organizing the Exhibition by selling tickets, as the production and distribution of tickets and collection of revenue from selling them is entirely the prerogative of the host country.

On our part, we pledge to provide the following: creating a list of the holograms and the preparation of exhibits for the Exhibition (including special framing and lighting); the provision of holograms from the list for the whole duration of the Exhibition, as well as for the time required for its installation and dismantling; commissioning a team of professionals to the place of the Exhibition to help choose a proper hall, to negotiate over the concrete terms and sign the agreement, to offer advice on the best practice of arranging and running the Exhibition, to guide the preparation of the chosen premises for the Exhibition (with necessary materials and workers provided by the host country); transportation and customs clearance for exhibits; a visit of the Exhibition team to set up the exhibits and the lighting (4-5 people 4-7 days) prior to the opening of the Exhibition, and a visit of the same team to dismantle the Exhibition after its completion; a permanent stay of 1-2 members of our staff to ensure the proper functioning of the Exhibition (correct functioning of the exhibits and of their placement); providing information about the exhibits and holography in general for the guides in Russian and/or English languages; consulting on the competent organization of the Exhibition, PR-support, media coverage and advertising; and insure the exhibits against various possible damage. We reserve the right to sell catalogs of Exhibition and souvenir holographic products to the visitors.

The host country provides halls for the exhibition and materials and equipment necessary to mount the exhibition, arranges advertising, PR support, media coverage and any other means of attracting visitors to the Exhibition, organizes the production and sale of tickets to the Exhibition, employs guides, security guards, janitors, repairmen and other necessary personnel, as well as covers our expenses connected to setting up the Exhibition in accordance with the signed agreement and in the mode stipulated in this agreement.

The first step in realizing this project would be an invitation from you for our team (2-3 persons) to come to the city where the Exhibition shall be held, to participate in negotiations, examine the proposed venues, discuss conditions and parameters of the Exhibition, and sign the agreement.

Based on our experience of the Minsk Exhibition, we recommend to ensure an adequate level of the event of such a large scale and cultural significance, to gain support of relevant government departments of the country and the city where the Exhibition will be held, such as the City Council, the Ministry of Culture, Academy of Sciences, centers of scientific research and development, the major universities of the country. Also, to increase the educational and scientific-popular aspect, it would be a wise decision to involve schools and other educational institutions, to organize group tours for the young, so as to attract as many young people as possible.

In parallel with the exhibition, we can record a series of holograms of the national treasures of your country, and include them in the exhibition. It is also possible to arrange live demonstrations of the principles of the laser functioning and recording of holograms for organized groups of visitors.

Examples of the Exhibition's Pieces

The Exhibition presents all kinds of display holograms and all existing holographic technologies, ranging from the early holograms of the 1970s to modern works of recent years, created using the latest technologies. Each technology is interesting in its own way, and they amaze viewers, forcing them to try to touch the depicted objects or suspiciously look behind the holograms, in hope of finding there a hidden object. Many visitors to the exhibition could hardly believe that such a realistic display of items were realized on the thin plate of only 5-15 microns thick - thinner than a human hair.

The structure of the exhibition, including holograms of all periods and all types, provided a complete picture of the art of holography, the stages of its development and all the technologies used. In particular, the exhibition shows the holograms of the following types (just note that no photograph can convey the tremendous impression of the presence of the depicted object, which a hologram has on the audience):

1) Analog monochrome holograms recorded with continuous laser (Belarus, the Netherlands, Russia, the Ukraine, etc.):

2) Analog monochrome holograms recorded with pulse laser (Russia, the USA, the UK, etc.):

3) Analog color hologram (Belarus, France, the UK, etc.):

4) Rainbow transmissive holograms:

5) Digital holograms (Canada, Australia, Lithuania, etc.)

General Information on Holography

British scientist Dennis Gabor is considered to be the founder of holography. In 1947 he recorded the first hologram in history. In 1971 Dennis Gabor received the Nobel Prize in Physics for "invention and development of the holographic principle". Holography began to flourish in the 1960s, after the invention of the laser.

In 1962 Emmett Leith and Juris Upatnieks of the USA laid foundations for display holography, recording the first ever 3D transmission hologram, that could be restored in laser light.
Another person crucial to the development of graphic holography was Soviet scientist Yuri Denisyuk. He was the first to gain reflective holograms, allowing to reproduce three-dimensional images in ordinary white light. Virtually all modern display holography is based on the methods proposed by Denisyuk.

In 1969, Stephen Benton (the USA) produced a transmission hologram, visible in ordinary white light. Holograms, invented by Benton, were called rainbow holograms, because they shimmer with all rainbow colors that make up white light.

In Belarus, holography started developing in the 1970s. The person to found both display and security holograms was Leonid Tanin. He has carried out various studies in this area, that were highly regarded by the international scientific community, and founded several companies and are now leading in Belarus in production of holograms. In the autumn of 2011, Leonid Tanin was a key organizer of the International scientific-practical conference "HOLOEXPO-2011", which brought to Minsk some of the most renowned scientists and specialists in the field of holography from all around the world. High level of development of holography in Belarus, recognized by the scientific community, allowed to hold in Belarus the first ever World Exhibition of Display Holography.

Holographic technologies are able to recreate three-dimensional images of physical objects on a flat surface, amazing spectators with realism and accuracy, their realistic copy of the reality made up with white light and use the laws of optics.

Holography is called one of the most promising technologies that will eventually occupy an increasingly important place in people's lives, replacing many habitual things. Perhaps in the future buyers of online stores will try holographic model clothes from home, medical students will study the structure of the human body on mannequins, and holographic movies will completely replace the cinema of today.

Holography has already become an integral part of many sectors of the economy and everyday life. Holography is used as a means of identifying the authenticity (security holograms), it is used as medical application, in military technologies, and in many other areas. In particular, there are enormous opportunities in the field of holographic reconstruction of three-dimensional images, virtually indistinguishable from the originals, which has been widely used in interior design, advertising, entertainment performances, museum business and fine arts.

Display holography is the art of the new millennium, standing at the intersection of art, psychology, and physics. Artists began to use holography since the late 60s. One of the first to do so was Salvador Dali, who presented his circular hologram "Alice Cooper's Brain" to the public in New York in 1972. Soon in the U.S.A. and Europe, specialized galleries, exhibited only holographic work, appeared, as well as art studios and schools, promoting this new art form.

Holography is believed to be a very useful application in museums: the unique artifacts and paintings, including those that cannot be displayed or transported out of the country, can be displayed in museums around the world in the form of their holographic copies, nearly identical with the originals. This trend was also widely represented at the Minsk Exhibition, including a hall where visitors could see both holograms of museum exhibits and the exhibits themselves - ancient clay statuettes.

The important feature of display holography is that a person has to see them with his own eyes - no pictures or video can convey a striking sense of presence that holograms have on the viewer.

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