Virtual Reality offers unprecedented immersive and affective ways of engaging with various subjects and stories. Being placed into the centre of the story, it is no longer about passive observation, but rather about active participation. The projects presented in Vektor section is about how creators are embracing the medium redefining how we experience the world that surrounds us.
Mika Johnson’s Metamorphosis VR provides a new perspective on Kafka’s work and world offering the viewer a new approach on how we think about adaptations, environments and contingencies. In -22.7°C we can experience the Greenland landscape through the lenses and senses of musical producer Molecule.
The Lithuanian Code of Freedom 1991 is guiding back its experiencer to the last wave of revolution where one has to make the ethical decision as a journalist to remain an observer or act in the middle of the action this way exploring the entanglement of interactivity.
A different approach to place and space can be observed in Home After War, a piece of immersive journalism where one can explore the details of a devastated family home by also learning about the tragedies of the residents.
Holy City VR let the experiencer playfully explore the sacred place Jerusalem, gain access to rituals and wonder on diversity and culture. In Whispers natural and constructed, mystery and reality is merged by presenting a sacred power of a healer. Lake Baikal takes us to dramatic landscapes where people live by their spiritual traditions near the deepest lake of the Earth. The Real Thing shows us the daily life in China's "copycat city," which recreates iconic architecture from around the world.
Uncapitals: Pomors in 360 we can get a personal perspective not just on a place untouched by time, but on enthusiasm and passion through that individuals nurture the cultural heritage.
The presented works vary from 360-degree documentaries, artistic VR-experiences, and immersive journalism projects - by offering this selection our curatorial aim was to present works which showcase complexity of what reality can mean and question our situational awareness.
Ágnes Karolina Bakk, András Szabó
Curators, Vektor VR section
