In honour of SFU’s 50th anniversary, Hidden Pasts, Digital Futures: A Festival of Immersive Arts, a collection of groundbreaking interactive exhibits, comes alive at the Westbank Woodward’s Atrium and SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts from September 18 to October 16, 2015.
In partnership with the National Film Board of Canada, the Vancouver International Film Festival, and SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs, the five-week project will feature work by internationally renowned artists Stan Douglas, the NFB Digital Studio, Sarah Kenderdine, and Jeffrey Shaw.
Howard Jang, Director of Woodward’s Cultural Unit, calls the collection a “good example of what art can do and how it can truly engage the community.” He also notes the appropriateness of the project in celebration of SFU’s 50th birthday: “This anniversary encourages us to look back on our history and provides a glimpse of our community. SFU has always been identified as the radical campus, and this work lives out that disruptive dialogue. [The exhibit] reflects the type of school that has been, and shows how the arts can really play a role in engaging and shaping the world.”
The festival is comprised of three experimental pieces, each of which transports participants into a richly unique multi-dimensional world. The first, Circa 1948, is an interactive storyworld co-created by the National Film Board of Canada‘s award-winning Digital Studio in Vancouver and internationally acclaimed artist Stan Douglas that tells the story of post-WWII Vancouver.
In Circa 1948 you, as the sole participant, step into a modest room, which transforms before your eyes into an interactive space where you explore two vastly different communities straight out of 1948 Vancouver. The first, the original Hotel Vancouver in the prosperous west, is contrasted by the second (now extinct) location, the culturally diverse, working-class Hogan’s Alley in the east. Complete with exceptionally detailed visuals that you can walk right up to and an intimate soundscape of the time, the experience is truly delightful. It’s like a historical video game come to life — it’s immersive and unforgettable.
According to interactive producer and creative technologist for the National Film Board of Canada Dana Dansereau, the exhibit is a “wisp of the past.” He notes the project hinges on the “idea of communicating these two neighbourhoods of Vancouver at a time that matters, using technology. [It is an] architectural documentary of parts of our history that have been eradicated, telling an important story spanning multiple mediums.”
Pure Land: Inside the Mogao Grottoes at Dunhuang is an immersive installation created by Jeffrey Shaw and Sarah Kenderdine. As described on the Woodward’s website, the animated 3D experience immerses visitors in the heritage of ancient Buddhist grotto temples. The artwork features the Dunhuang Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that marked the gateway to China on the ancient Silk Road.
Visitors step into a room surrounded by a large 360-degree panoramic 3D projection theatre that puts them inside a cave temple, where they view magnificent Buddhist wall paintings.
Place-Hampi, created by Sarah Kenderdine and Jeffrey Shaw, is an embodied theatre of participation in the drama of Hindu mythology focused at the most significant archaeological, historical, and sacred locations of the World Heritage site Vijayanagara, South India.
The 360-degree display (created from analog footage) of the World Heritage site brings to life the history and breathtaking scenery of the location, and the narrative events enrich the adventure through computer-graphic characters representing protagonists of the Hindu mythologies including Ganesha, Lord Shiva, and Garuda. The landscape that takes you from one sacred site to the next is mesmerizing and transformative.
These three core exhibitions are complemented by companion installations Fragmentation (Richard Castelli & Volker Kuchelmeister, directed by Robert Lepage), Fall Again, Fall Better (Jeffrey Shaw), and UnmakeableLove (Sarah Kenderdine, Jeffrey Shaw). As a whole, Hidden Pasts, Digital Futures draws us in and encourages us to ask important questions about, as Dansereau said, “what does immersive arts mean for artists and what does it mean for public experience?
“Immersive arts is something you can’t ignore,” he added.
The festival, much like SFU, is rooted in history, possibility and wonder. Jang acknowledges that SFU’s Woodward’s Cultural Unit, as well as this project, “have the opportunity to be a place for, and present, dialogue and engagement.
“We’re heading off into the a brave new world, one that puts arts on the front burner.
