Antoni Gerges

Akshaya × Vikas Khanna, “Sacred Foods of India”, Dubai, 2022

Akshaya × Vikas Khanna

Kinara, JA Resort, Dubai · 23 June 2022 · from the film of the night

Before the launch, and after.

Akshaya × Vikas Khanna · Dubai · 23 June 2022

A book, and its digital twin.

The launch of “Sacred Foods of India” by chef Vikas Khanna as a physical book with an NFT twin, for Akshaya, Texas. Creative direction, design and the room, through AntBrush, with MCX.

The idea.

One face carries the launch: the book’s reader seen through a headset, the sacred and the digital in a single look.

The key visual: a stylised purple head wearing a VR headset whose visor, in a cyan-to-pink gradient, reads Power of Phygital NFT, on a deep purple ground repeating the Akshaya logo and the Sacred Foods of India title.
The key visual
The e-invite: Akshaya’s first-ever launch of #Phygital NFT, physical asset plus digital twin, celebrity chef Vikas Khanna’s magnum opus book, 23rd June 2022, Dubai, at Kinara, JA Resort, 7:30 pm, followed by a personalised dinner with the Michelin chef; the chef smiling in an apron on the right.
The e-invite: 23 June 2022, 7:30 pm, Kinara, JA Resort

The room.

Kinara, JA Resort, Dubai: empty at the recce on 3 June, lit for the night on 23 June.

An empty meeting room at the recce: rows of grey chairs facing a projection screen, a wooden sideboard, windows along one side under a wooden ceiling.
The recce · 3 June 2022
A room lit pink and violet for the night: walls of large leaf patterns traced in white light, a screen showing the book box, two draped plinths on lit bases, a striped carpet.
Lit for the night · 23 June 2022
The photo wall built: the giant VR-headset head on a purple wall repeating the Akshaya logo and the book title, its visor a lit screen, under violet light.
The VR-head photo wall, built
The stage wall: a wide blue screen reading World’s first #Phygital NFT launch over the Akshaya logo, the book and the chef holding it, above a low black stage.
The stage wall, in the client’s own words: “World’s first #Phygital NFT launch”

The object.

The physical half of the launch: the book in a sandalwood box, unveiled in front of the guests.

The wooden book box open on a table, seen from above: the book inside, its cover printed with rows of pink lotuses and the title Sacred Foods of India, a bookmark and a card in the lid.
The box, open · 20 June 2022
The book box closed: a dark wood lid painted with lotus leaves and flowers, a printed panel with Sacred Foods of India, Heritage, Pilgrimage, Holy Kitchens and Vikas Khanna, and the Akshaya logo.
Closed · 20 June 2022
The open book box standing on a dinner table in the restaurant, guests at their tables behind it.
On a table at the dinner · from the film of the night

The night.

23 June 2022, 7:30 pm: the launch, then dinner with the chef.

The film of the night, 23 June 2022

Chef Vikas Khanna smiling at the dinner, holding the book open to its lotus cover beside its box, the restaurant’s tables and lights behind him.
The chef with the book, at the dinner
Explore the build

Drawn, then built.

Each piece went to the fabricators as a production file, and stood in the hotel three weeks after the recce.

The shield-wall production drawing on black: a round panel in a golden frame carrying Sacred Foods of India, Vikas Khanna and the Akshaya logo, with arrows naming the sticker, the frosted acrylic, the golden frame and the clear acrylic; 191.1 cm wide by 188.3 cm high.
Drawn · the shield wall: a sticker on frosted acrylic, in a golden frame · June 2022
The shield wall built in its room: the round golden panel with Sacred Foods of India and the Akshaya logo, ringed in white light, on a wall of large dark leaves, two draped plinths in front.
Built · 23 June 2022
The flag sheet: three tall sail flags, white with the Akshaya logo, gold with Sacred Foods of India and Vikas Khanna, and dark with the chef in an apron, shown on poles and flat, marked two of the first and one each of the others.
Drawn · the three flags: the brand, the book, the chef · June 2022
The flags up at the hotel entrance at night: the chef’s flag and the Akshaya flag between the stone columns, two of the crew setting up beside them.
Built · at the entrance, the night before, 22 June 2022
The scope

What we delivered.

The look of the launch and every piece in the room, sent to the fabricators as production files and built with MCX.

Idea & screens

  • The key visual: the VR-goggled head
  • Virtual photo booth: the face, the frames, the QR mobile screen, the microsite background
  • Website link files

Space

  • The VR-head photo wall
  • The stage wall
  • The shield wall: sticker, frosted acrylic, golden frame
  • Podiums
  • Flags and directional signage
  • Venue walls and wood bases

Production

  • Production files for every piece, to the fabricators
  • The build at the hotel, 20 to 23 June 2022, with MCX
  • The virtual photo booth artwork: a purple stylised head whose visor opens on a woman’s eyes, the Akshaya logo above and Sacred Foods of India, Vikas Khanna in the corner.
    The virtual photo booth: the face
  • The VR-headset head cut out on its own: purple hair, a cyan-to-pink visor, a pink chin.
    The face, cut out for the exhibition walls
  • The VR-head photo wall photographed on the night, the visor screen showing the book in its box.
    The photo wall: the visor is a screen
  • The shield wall at the end of its room: the round golden panel on the leaf wall, two draped plinths on lit bases, the carpet striped in pink light.
    The shield wall in its room, 23 June 2022
  • The directional sign: an angular black panel with an arrow and Sacred Foods of India, Vikas Khanna, on a white base with the Akshaya logo.
    The directional sign, 23 June 2022

From the job register, the artwork and production files, the photographs of the build and the client’s payment.

RoleAntoni Gerges
Creative Director, Brand & Experiential
Made byAntBrush, with MCX.
ForAkshaya, Cypress, Texas: the launch of “Sacred Foods of India” at Kinara, JA Resort, Dubai.
CreditsFilm and photographs of the night: the event’s coverage. The e-invite and the sandalwood box: shown as made for the launch.
Next projectLive showsFive nights, one city.