I spoke with Kidus Hailesilassie about Uncharted VR at Tribeca Immersive 2025. See more context in the rough transcript below.
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Rough Transcript
[00:00:05.458] Kent Bye: The Voices of VR podcast. Hello, my name is Kent Bye, and welcome to the Voices of VR podcast. It's a podcast that looks at the structures and forms of immersive storytelling and the future of spatial computing. You can support the podcast at patreon.com slash voicesofvr. So continuing my coverage of looking at different projects from Tribeca Immersive 2025, today's episode is with a piece called Uncharted VR. I'm just going to read the synopsis and then give a bit more context to this project. So enter Uncharted VR, an immersive cosmic choreography where the body becomes a vessel for ancestral storytelling. Mapping 6,500 cosmology of languages rooted in African and diasporic writing systems, this installation converges ancestral knowledge and AI data sculpture with one of the world's oldest techniques, the human body. Through dance, this language archive comes alive in a new form of Pan-African storytelling. So I had a chance to sit down with Caduce Ellis Selassie, who actually comes from an architectural background and studied fiction and entertainment in the context of architecture. And so there's this multidisciplinary approach of telling the story. So there's like a two channel video installation that is giving this animation of all these African language characters that are undulating in these waves. And you're listening to this guided meditation. And then as you walk around the corner, there's this physical installation that looks like you're looking into like a black cave or a void, but it's got this projection of this keyhole type of shape. And it's got this real allure where it starts to allow you to enter into the some of the themes and symbols that are covered within the context of the vr experience so within the context of the vr they're actually taking a look at these ideas of language and communication and having all these different characters from different african languages that are being animated and visualized but also the center is this dancer who's dancing this type of dance called a doa which is a way of using the body to speak a language. And so it's like a form of sign language, but in a way that is a part of a cultural practice to do these dances that then could be used as a way of transmitting information and knowledge. They encoded the story into this dance and then had it decoded and was read by someone who was speaking the Tweed language. So a lot of different layers to this project and also just quite a lot of symbolism and culturally specific references that I was not aware of. And so I had a chance to sit down with Kiddus to help to unpack both the process of making this piece, but also some of the deeper meaning and symbols that are encoded within this project that is at the intersection of language and archives and storytelling and architecture and just finding new ways of getting access to bodies of knowledge. So, overcoming all that and more on today's episode of the Voices of VR podcast. So, this interview with Quddus happened on Friday, June 6th, 2025, at the Tribeca Emrasive in New York City, New York. So, with that, let's go ahead and dive right in.
[00:03:00.800] Kidus Hailesilassie: My name is Quddus Haile Selassie. I come from architecture background. I'm an Ethiopian architect, artist, working between... mediums of physical space or physical installation and storytelling. That's where most of my work is grounded in. I have been kind of working on a project that is around language archive and reimagining the different contexts that we could access that within the context of the continent and its diaspora.
[00:03:34.665] Kent Bye: And maybe you could give a bit more context as to your background and your journey into this immersive space.
[00:03:39.527] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yes, of course. I started working on a more interdisciplinary projects within the past four or five years. Before that, I had a very much, I would say, like grounded architectural practice. which was between Ethiopia and Germany, Berlin and Addis. I worked with an artist, Olafur Leysen, his studio for about five years. And that was kind of like the introduction for me within how I could use my architecture background within the context of art and installation. And then right after that, I started doing a program, studied fiction and entertainment at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. And it's a very interdisciplinary program in its nature. So this project kind of started there. I started an independent study as part of that program, which I kind of shaped independently with a few professors and did my own research and collection of languages and archives. knowledge systems so that was kind of the starting point of how I got into what I would call like the media practice or within yeah interdisciplinary practice
[00:04:59.093] Kent Bye: Yeah, so there's like at least three components and probably a lot more to this project where you walk in and you see two screens that have this wave-like modulation where you see these letters, but there's also kind of a meditation that you're guided through. Then there's a VR piece that goes into a lot of dance that is, you know, you hear the story, it's in another language, and I'm not able to understand the kind of meaning of what's being said, but I'm seeing it being interpreted through the dance and this immersive space that also has the characters that are floating around and there's this really beautiful part of the installation that is like this black void that you're looking into but you see this like rotating like what looks like a crescent moon type of shape but it's like rotating around Then I walked closer, and I was like, oh, wow, this is actually shaped to be a keyhole that I'm looking at as well. And so that's another part of the physical installation that was there to help set the mood, almost like the onboarding magic circle before you go into the virtual reality piece. And so there's a number of different components to this piece. And so I'm just curious where you began and if there's a specific order that you think people would be best to go through in order to experience each of these different components.
[00:06:11.360] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yeah, that's actually a very well-shaped description of the project and the experience. Thank you for sharing that. Yes, when I started working on this installation as part of the festival and my initial conversation with Jazia and Mathieu, especially with Jazia, was the fact that how do we make sure the experience is reflecting the different modalities of the collaborations and the extensions of this project because this project has been kind of being shaped since 2020. It's been around different phases of development. That means when I started the project, it started from collecting 6,500 different characters or language systems or writing systems. And that kind of was the first framework to start this conversation of archive. What does it mean to set this framework of accessing an archive that in the Western context, when you talk about what is contained and what's the container, what does it mean a language, a culture, a knowledge that is way beyond our imagination, our vision, to be contained within a physical environment or within a physical structure. So this project, the different relationship that it's creating or what you were describing as like the duplicity and the multi-layeredness of the project really exists because of this envisioning or this vision of how do we see beyond the physical structure of what is trying to contain this work or this idea of knowledge in collective consciousness. And within that is the project naturally has this structure of collaboration. So when you walk into the installation, you see this projection, which was part of my very first installation called Ancestral Algorithms. And that was created by using what I mentioned, the archived 6,500 different writing systems, but mapping them using an AI mapping system. At the time, I was not able to kind of get funding for it. So it was using a pirated AI software and then using that to map these characters into a two-dimensional space, creating a relationship of how they sound and how they look. So in the traditional sense, language or alphabets exist by their own separately, but this is trying to find a way to create interrelationship between all of them. So it's naturally existing as a layer of relationship. And that's exactly what the project is about. It's trying to create a relationship with its own different extensions. It's also trying to create a relationship within the larger context of the curation here at Tribeca and to mention a few points within how you would experience it or best experience it is that the projection has the space of the unbound or a continuation of the ancestral algorithm what I mentioned earlier a wave that you're taken to the ocean kind of a reminder of the passage, the transatlantic voyage. But within that, you see that a layer of knowledge, a wisdom that was actually taken from the continent or transferred from the continent and dispersed around the world. So that's kind of the starting point of the piece. And you come across this audio guide or an audio piece that is kind of a meditation. that was done with a collaboration with Trinidad artist Kamali and she did this beautiful sound of a vocal journey or framework around the project and grounding us within the history of the queen mother which is the Ghanaian queen mother and taking us through this different phases of meditation and then you would walk into the kind of the hidden corner or pocket space of the installation where you would come across what my producer Asia calls it, the Black Cave. I imagine it as kind of a transient space. This project, I mean, the nature of the project is also a collaboration, but at the same time, the nature of the project is definitely acknowledged that this project is kind of grounded in Ghana, in collaboration with a Ghanaian artist, a choreographer. So it's trying to say you are in the in-between space. Uncharted VR is actually co-directed by myself and Ainsley Allen Robson. We filmed that piece together and then as part of that film we collaborated with a choreographer and a dancer from Accra, Ghana and LA. So in these different pieces you would actually see these collaborations happening actively. And it's, I mean, if we had to say this is a bridge between these different conversations and that's exactly how I envision the experience itself.
[00:11:22.901] Kent Bye: Yeah, as you were talking about the ocean, I remember there was a phrase that caught my attention, which was that as people speak and share knowledge, there's a way in which the water captures and retains that knowledge. And so there's a way that we're seeing the water element where the air of the language is sort of rippling through those waves. And so if we go back to the origins of this project, you're talking around investigating these 6,500 languages, and it sounds like that you are taking the characters from those languages and looking at the phenomes and maybe even the correspondences in terms of their meaning, or at least the elemental parts of the language. But you're creating this mosaic of all these different characters from the continent of Africa. Can you take me back to like the origins of looking at language as a repository or an archive of something and then thinking in a spatial context or trying to add a spatial dimension to that? Like what were some of the original questions that you were asking that you wanted to ask? apply what I see as like the abstractions of language is sort of like in the quadrivium there's number which is mathematics or language and then geometries numbers in space and then music is numbers in time and then astronomy is numbers in space and time so you have this kind of dynamic unfolding so there's this kind of interesting like your training is in this numbers in space so looking at spatial context but you're looking at the abstractions of language itself and and thinking around the root of how the language and these more abstract idealized aspects of knowledge that are kind of feeding into everything else. And so those are some associative links that were coming up, but I'd love to hear you maybe elaborate on both that, but also your original provocation that you wanted to really dig into this from this lens of architecture.
[00:13:09.368] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yeah, you know, when I think about this project, I always remind myself of what triggered the first question or the initial question. And I remember when I was a kid, when I was 13 or 12, coming across a keyboard, a laptop in the house. I mean, just this was, I mean, I've been using computer, but to really understand what it meant to be able to use a technology and to have internet at home. But then you really have to find a way to channel the knowledge and information that you're trying to send or receive through this language, which is English, which is now my mother tongue. So I remember this very clear memory of understanding the keyboard and what it meant to find a way to channel a part of myself through that. So this project is really trying to do the reverse, where I'm trying to see technology through the lens of the cultural context or the language itself. So language exists as a framework to talk about larger question, which is, for example, the continent, as in the continent of Africa, has one third of the world language, which accounts for 2500 different writing systems and languages. But we also don't have a way to access that information, to access that collective knowledge system. So this project, the starting point was how do we find ways to envision different ways of access points? but at the same time find a way of relationship within that because that's exactly where the power is within us individually but also as a collective and it's interesting that you brought up the codification almost the codification of language or the interplay of what is seen or what is learned and beyond that point because while collecting these languages or these different writing systems I was really interested in finding a way of understanding what it means to be able to access a language that was created thousands of years before I even existed here. But bring that knowledge, bring that technology, because language is also one of the ancient technologies we have as humankind. And bring that into a conversation with one of the current technologies we have, like AI. And what does this mean to have a natural intelligence and artificial intelligence combined? And what are the layers that could inform us as a community? So, yeah, that was kind of like the initial point of the research.
[00:15:54.178] Kent Bye: Yeah, I'd love to hear a bit more elaboration on this background in architecture and starting to look at these more immersive forms that are a little bit more agency-based, dynamic, moving, or with music or even dance. And talking to the Architectural Association, they had brought me out for a workshop they had did on the future of the immersive internet. And so I had a chance to engage with a lot of architects over the years. And I always find that Much like theater, that folks with background in architecture are able to understand the dynamics of spatial media in a unique way, but also architecture is still one of the few truly interdisciplinary fields that you have to learn so many different types of things in order to be an architect. The new things that are coming in are like more of the game engines, the dynamic aspects, the virtual architecture, music, dance, these other forms that may have not traditionally been associated with the idea of building buildings. And so just love to hear you maybe elaborate on this kind of intersection as we have XR and immersive media, how that's expanding the pantheon of other disciplines that are being folded into the practice of learning architecture and your lens of architecture as applied to immersive art and immersive media.
[00:17:01.721] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yeah, when thinking about architecture or the discipline of architecture and design, I think about architecture as a spatial practice. I also think about architecture as your designing systems. And this principle is exactly applied to this project as well. i'm not designing as to speak physical elements or physical components or physical realities but the same principle that's applied to design the physical environments that we see here are applied to the project in the virtual space or in the digital space itself And language actually plays a huge role in that all of the, I would say, the physical realities that we're able to navigate as human can only exist in this way because of how we can find a way to channel that to become a physical reality. So in different ways, architecture, to be able to have or to be able to apply my architecture discipline informs the process of engagement, but also understanding or applying this idea of how do we think multimedia or interdisciplinary projects through the same principle of designing space and adding layers of a narrative adding layers of world building and adding in layers of identity at the same time so yeah that's kind of how i usually work between the physical space or spatial practice and then taking that into a more of like a virtual space or the digital space
[00:18:40.447] Kent Bye: And at the end of Uncharted VR, there's a little bit of like in the credit sequence, you're starting to show the design process itself of like some of the collaborations of the choreographer speaking to the dancer and communicating different ways of transmitting this deeper story. So I'm wondering if you can maybe elaborate on this process of in this VR piece, collaborating with dancers, choreography, and how you see dance was a modality that you wanted to integrate in order to tell this part of the story.
[00:19:08.874] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yeah, when I started collaborating with now a very good friend of mine, Elizabeth Sutherland, the initial conversation was between myself, Ainsley, who is also the co-director of the VR piece. The initial conversation was really about how do we understand or how do we find other forms of expression beyond the writing systems? How do we find a language that is actually embodied? And how can we understand the body itself as an archive? So that was the initial conversation around or what shaped Uncharted. And Elizabeth, through our conversation, introduced us to this idea of a performance called Adoah. adohas performed in the ashanti community as a way of channeling language the certain movements through the hand the upper body the lower body how you position your legs can actually tell a whole story and that was very intriguing for us in a way that okay can we find different ways of incorporating this level of expression as another layer as the writing systems exists within the project So we reached out to a performer in LA and she was able to get on board on this project. So they did a few sessions, rehearsal sessions, where Elizabeth was pretty much teaching Harmony, our dancer, how to make this performance, but also a form of language. So the film that you see the performance in the middle section of this experience is that. And as much as it's important to create these worlds that are visually stunning and beautiful and takes you on a journey of a reality that's taking you out of this physical space, I also wanted to ground the experience with the process itself beyond seeing this beautiful environment. So that's exactly why you see this conversation between Elizabeth and Harmony to kind of give us the behind the scene but also to say the process is as beautiful as what we consider the outcome and sometimes it can take the same space it can exist within the same space and it can actually become part of the story itself so the first section the second section and the third section actually exists together so that's why
[00:21:41.749] Kent Bye: Yeah. And so one of the trends that I've seen over the years at immersive festivals that are specifically very focused on having like English language, either as a part that's dubbed or subtitles as a piece that's very specifically focused on language, there was a decision that you made to not have any subtitles and to not have any English interpretation of what was being said. And so it ends up being this more poetic dream logic where The only mode of interpreting is like a little bit of preamble where we're explained what this story is. And we do have some onboarding using the English language. But for the most part, the heart of the story is in another language that I wasn't able to understand. And so there was a confusion on that mental level. But yet I'm left with the imagery of the dance and this kind of other poetically having these letters and characters from all these different languages swirl around me and what felt like this story. Mixed between a mist-like ocean, like floaty, etheric void space, but also references to space itself. But yeah, I'd just love to hear you maybe elaborate on this decision to not provide the subtitles, not provide English translation, and the thinking that was going on behind that.
[00:22:54.451] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yes, of course. When actually coming across Adoa as a form of language and performance, one of the things that I really wanted to revisit as a form of telling the story beyond the performance was if Adoa exists as a way of transferring knowledge and story, I'm sure there is a way to kind of create a transcript or a voiceover or a narration of the story in a vocalized form. So that is how the first part of the experience is really grounded. The voiceover that you hear in the first portion or as the introduction of the experience was actually created with a collaboration with a teacher, a professor, a language expert from Ghana, Vida. And Vida was very, very generous with her time in leading us through what it meant when we showed her the actual video. filming that performance after three years. She was able to understand the whole story through the performance and that was magical for us because that's exactly what we're trying to tell as a story. So we invited, I had a few calls with Vida and asked her if she would be comfortable in sharing that story as a narrative piece. But through that process, I was also very conscious and very clear that I don't want to have or I'm not trying to create a one-to-one translation of this language to we, which you hear inside the experience as the first part of the experience, being one-to-one translated to English. And that's exactly why it exists as another form of telling a story. And it's okay. It's okay not to be able to understand the full story. It's meant to exist for communities and language and people who are within the culture context. And for the rest of us, including myself, to have a story, to have kind of tell us a framework of what the story is about, is described through a writing, an English writing that you can read before her voiceover. And that's very intentional. And as you go on, you would actually see this orb, what you described as kind of like the moon. And one face of that orb is actually Akua. Akua is in Ghana, traditionally, it's considered as it's called a fertility doll. And this piece, it exists as a place where nurturing knowledge, nurturing knowledge, but also being welcomed to this culture is really important as a way to, for myself as an Ethiopian artist, as an Ethiopian architect who's trying to create this work in collaboration with a Ghanaian artist, to be able that I was invited, I was welcomed. So that's kind of why that's there. And on the other side of that orb, you would see the ocean again, kind of what ties the whole experience together and the performance. In the performance, what you described as this cosmic, ocean, ethereal kind of experience is a complete loop or a circle. And that's also to say we come from a different, we as in like as Ethiopian and in most contexts within the African context as well, the conception and understanding of time is completely different. And this project is exactly that. It's not a linear experience, does not exist as a linear experience. It exists as kind of an informal, a very fluid way of telling a story. And yeah, that's kind of how you, I imagine the audience experience it as well.
[00:26:36.334] Kent Bye: Yeah. So I think this is a theme that I'm seeing a lot at this year's program, which is the use of these types of poetic imagination, dream logic type of techniques, where there's a lot of these symbols and symbolisms that are embedded into the piece. And so as I'm hearing you speak about it, it's almost like you're interpreting the dream of the piece that I experienced. And so I'm just curious if you've thought about that. If as people go through this, if you're happy for them to like experience it as a dream or like a collective dream and then take away a feeling or emotion, or if there's like other modalities or other ways that they could get access to, like, you know, unlocking the symbols and kind of reading the dream interpretation or. you know, having a booklet or unpacking all these other dimensions. It's a very deep and layered piece, but I do find that there's certain aspects of it that I need to have a conversation with the creator in order to really kind of fully unpack it. So I'm not sure if you've thought around that or like if there's parts of that mystery that you're happy to keep or if there's other ways that you have thought around exploring those dimensions of the symbols and the meaning.
[00:27:33.598] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yeah, I think that's been kind of partially the process of the project, trying to figure out how do we make sure it is very inclusive and it's not coming as a very abstract piece, but a piece that's trying to almost effortlessly express itself without the need for over explaining. So it's still a challenge, to be very honest. But it's also a challenge that I'm very much happy to be informed through the process of sharing it. So this is kind of where I am right now in the project, trying to understand what it means to share a project that is trying to share a cultural practice, a language and a whole world that exists effortlessly within its own. But how do we communicate that efficiently with communities? Because at the end of the day, this project exists as a way of relationship or creating a relationship. So I would take that as a challenge as being continuously kind of find a way to not resolve, but find a way, a medium for it to kind of be somehow mediated with. To add one point on that, I was thinking about kind of reaching out, not thinking about, but one of the process that I'm working on right now is reaching out to communities and making sure this project is actually shared and they're aware or different communities are aware that also would not have access to spaces like this. So throughout the coming few months, I will be actively doing that as well.
[00:29:10.495] Kent Bye: Yeah, and the other part of, like, this cave space that is, you know, what I described as, like, a void space that has this kind of projection mapped of what looks a little bit like a keyhole, but you're going in between, like, this flipping coin, so it's a circle that's turning around and rotating, and on one side there's, like, a face that sounds like that might be the fertility goddess, and on the other side there's, like, these kind of more waves and ocean-like illusions, and so... maybe talk through the decision to have that as something that was pulled out of the vr experience and then put into an installation context that for me when i went around i was first saw i was like oh wow i wasn't expecting to see that there but there's also this kind of magic circle that gets created by seeing that and then going into the vr piece and then seeing the same imagery within the full like a much broader context that's like unfolding within the spatial story that you're telling. But I'd love to hear you maybe elaborate on that physical installation component and how you wanted to have those tie into the VR piece or set within the context of something that's in this kind of hidden corner that people can discover.
[00:30:12.503] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yes. When I was actually working through this physical installation format, I really wanted to create or also acknowledge the fact that there is a duplicity nature within a lot of knowledge systems that I came across and that I know exist within the continent. For me, how do I create a world that exists in between the two? Also exists in between the two as a way of narrating a story, but also how do we create a transient, a space in between the continent as a geography or physical space that exists within the world and also within the Western world? Because this piece is going to be shared in different cities and countries that is far away from home. So it's very, the physical piece is really trying to create this mediation between the two, but also acknowledge the fact that this process or this project or this piece is not trying to exist without any reference point or without reference point of its geographical location. So what you see as, or what you described as a key or kind of a dark hole or this kind of in-between space, is actually an abstraction of Akua, the fertility doll that I mentioned earlier. And two days ago or three days ago, when I was kind of finishing up the installation, I was talking to a friend of mine who was helping me on the installation. African-American artist who's also based in New York. And he was like, my grandmother actually has that doll in our house. And I was wondering if this shape was actually abstracted from that. And that's exactly how I've imagined it. It's not meant to give us a one-to-one translation or a direct translation, but it's meant to create this question or reality. That's where is this piece belonging? And I think that's exactly where I want it to be. So there is definitely a very conscious decision of... not ambiguity but more of like an abstraction that tries to exist in the physical format and the story itself or the virtual experience itself is actually an extension of that. So you see a continuation of that world that you experience in the physical space kind of being a channel point to the story that you're going to be experiencing in the virtual reality.
[00:32:46.943] Kent Bye: Yeah, one of the ongoing ideas that I keep coming back to when I think around dream logic based pieces is that there's like different tiers of symbolism in terms of like there's universal archetypes that don't need to be elaborated, like people get it. And then there's symbols that come from a specific cultural context where people may be coming from a culture, they may be recognizing what that means. and then there's the level of like very personal symbols where it's like trying to interpret someone else's dream but not really knowing like what associations they have to it and so i feel like over time we're going to get more and more fluent of this archetypal and symbolic fluency for us to be able to read and interpret those omens but we're still in this space of kind of mediating between these different like layers of like personal symbol cultural symbols and then collective symbols that it sounds like there could already be this transmission that's happening where if people understand these symbols, they maybe get it at a level that people that are not familiar with those systems are able to decode what the symbolism was. But anyway, just curious to hear some of your thoughts on that.
[00:33:48.766] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yes. One of the kind of the visual mapping that I was consciously trying to navigate through the making of this piece is fabulation or fabulating or critical fabulation, because it's kind of a grounding factor in the experience where we acknowledge that we're in the present time, but we're also navigating what's envisioned in the future and what's grounding us in the past as well. being all the technologies that this piece is trying to navigate that being like virtual reality projection ai or any of these tools that we have on our hand and are becoming more accessible but also it's navigating one of the oldest technologies language which is thousands and thousands years of creation and progression so to kind of sum it up yes i was very intentional in using afro-serialism critical fabulation in the process of kind of weaving together all the stories and visual worlds in this process and i think that's also um how my collaboration with elizabeth a choreographer of this piece ainsley the co-director of this piece was kind of come together um
[00:35:08.629] Kent Bye: I'm wondering if you'd be willing to elaborate a little bit more on the meditation portion with the two screens that have what looks like this sea of characters that are undulating and it's kind of going forwards and backwards. So maybe that's another play of like breaking out of the linearity of time, but getting into a little bit more of a cyclical nature of the time, but with also like a spatial metaphor of what looked to be like an oceanic water way of maybe a reference to how the ocean and water is carrying memories. But there's also a whole guided meditation and sound design that is in that as well. So I'd love it if you'd maybe elaborate on the process of creating this guided meditation for people to go through.
[00:35:46.397] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yes. So when you walk into the installation, one thing you'd notice is this giant screen or a projection that exists in the front side of the exhibition. And as part of that, there is this audio piece that you just described, and that was done in collaboration with an artist from Kamali. And the intention behind that piece is really to give us space to breathe and rest and kind of be at the present moment. And I think the process of engagement in this project is not trying to rush us through an experience. It's really about understanding knowledge and our relationship with knowledge and wisdom within us. That's why the meditation exists as a piece by itself. And the story that you hear in the meditation is actually inspired by the same Queen Mother that I mentioned, that's also mentioned in the virtual reality experience. But it's also told through English, which is a completely different kind of way of navigating history when you kind of see that in relationship with virtual reality experience that you hear Tui, a language from Ghana. And that's a very conscious decision because language and knowledge and transfer of history can exist beyond the mother tongue or the language that exists within the continent. And the meditation is very much an invitation for a larger community and audience that is not accustomed to or is not aware of other languages to be able to take part in the peace.
[00:37:28.654] Kent Bye: Awesome. So what's next for Uncharted and Uncharted VR? Where do you want to take this here in the future?
[00:37:34.506] Kidus Hailesilassie: one of the aim or one of the visions that I have for the project is to be shared on the continent and get a few platforms or physical spaces on the continent to be able to share this work intimately there so that's one of the goals which hopefully will come through this year in the coming year another portion of the project or another vision of the project is also to kind of extend and finish all the extensions for example the meditation piece for that to exist in different languages and the virtual reality experience to also be experienced not only as a virtual reality experience but more of like as an immersive collective experience so yeah that's kind of my goal to kind of find ways to share this project in different formats and different spaces beyond the limitation of what the technology can offer
[00:38:30.109] Kent Bye: Awesome. And finally, what do you think the ultimate potential of immersive art and immersive storytelling might be and what it might be able to enable?
[00:38:39.389] Kidus Hailesilassie: I think from my own experience of bringing architectural thinking and spatial practice into storytelling, the immersive space brings this potential as a lot of technologies are becoming more and more accessible to communities that were not able to access these technologies. For me, I was not able to access or even think about using AI. But now AI is becoming kind of a conversation in so many levels. So I think the pathway of immersive space is kind of opening up this channel, opening up this tunnel of... bringing interdisciplinary practice into storytelling and kind of giving us a space to interweave together or interplay or create works that are in between these different disciplines and also give us access or find ways to express stories and narratives that are beyond the traditional format of sharing.
[00:39:42.768] Kent Bye: And I had a follow-on thought that I had thought of earlier and didn't mention, but I just wanted to bring up here now is that in a previous interview that I did with the winner of South by Southwest this year was a project that was using archives as a modality of creating a whole vast archive of Singapore and videos and using a spatial medium to access those archives. And so I feel like there's another theme here where there's thinking around how do you access systems of knowledge but create a spatial architecture to investigate archives and you've started with a very poetic interpretation of these archives but I don't know if you have any other further thoughts in terms of like the future of where you want to take this idea of gathering up archives of knowledge that may not be already being captured by existing AI systems or things that are out there, but that could either be an artistic context or other contexts that can really use the insights from architecture to help us to create a spatial architecture for us to be able to navigate these archives in a new and novel way.
[00:40:39.349] Kidus Hailesilassie: Yeah, I think when I was starting the project, one of the main kind of frameworks that I was considering is that how do we make sure beyond collecting and finding ways to share, how do we also fairly protect these works or these forms of knowledge or forms of existence or forms of wisdom that for example when you talk about language yes there's so much power in collecting it but it's also making it a bit more vulnerable and especially given the history of enslavement and colonization how do we make sure these works are also not does not exist within the footprints of those traumatic experiences or histories so That's been a journey. I would say it's a constant conversation that I would have with my collaborators, my co-creators, but also trying to find a way maybe to even ground it geographically. I'm working on sharing this as a website or an online archive that also invites the audience to share and add on the archive itself. But that also means I have to find a way to kind of ground it in a way that is specific to a geography or the continent. So that's a challenge that I'm actively trying to not resolve, but understand.
[00:42:07.371] Kent Bye: Yeah, some pretty sizable open questions there to try to figure out. Yeah. Awesome. Well, is there anything else that's left unsaid that you'd like to say to the broader immersive community?
[00:42:17.118] Kidus Hailesilassie: Please come visit this work, share your thoughts, and I would love to hear what you think about the experience. Yeah, thank you for this opportunity to share my work, and yeah, I really appreciate it.
[00:42:31.141] Kent Bye: Yeah, it's a really beautiful piece, and yeah, it's got all these different layers, and I think it's really interesting to hear you talk around the process and to kind of unpack it a little bit more, because there were things that I didn't fully grok in the moment, but I very much appreciate the opportunity to understand a little bit more around how it was created and some of the different themes that are in there. Yeah, I think it's a really provocative area to continue to investigate. And I'm always excited to see and follow more of this kind of architectural thinking into this medium, because I think there's a lot to be added into the future of where this all goes. So yeah, thanks again for joining me here on the podcast to help break it all down.
[00:43:05.332] Kidus Hailesilassie: Thank you. Thank you so much.
[00:43:07.110] Kent Bye: Thanks again for listening to this episode of the voices of your podcast. And if you enjoy the podcast and please do spread the word, tell your friends and consider becoming a member of the Patreon. This is a, this is part of podcast. And so I do rely upon donations from people like yourself in order to continue to bring this coverage. So you can become a member and donate today at patreon.com slash voices of VR. Thanks for listening.
