By Evelyn Njoroge
Published November 11, 2022
An exhibition that fuses art and technology has opened in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, with calls for wide-scale adoption of Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies in many sectors of the economy in order to capitalize on the massive, immersive and eye opening opportunities they offer.
Dubbed Sota 3.0 – Darubini (Telescope), the month-long exhibition showcases works by six visual artists who participated in the 3rd edition of State of the ARt, an initiative of Goethe-Institut in partnership with BlackRhino VR whose aim is to explore ways and means of integrating technology in various aspects of human lives.
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“From the first installment in 2020 dubbed Noma to Usoni in 2021, we have finally arrived at Darubini which offers us a lens into ourselves through immersive technology. Through this project, we have equipped young creative people with skills to enter their individual XR (eXtended Reality) journey and extend their creative freedom and expression without boundaries in the virtual world,” says Maria Bauer, Project Coordinator at Goethe-Institut during the official launch of the exhibition at The Mall in the Westlands district of Nairobi. “This project has transformed the way we look at the relationship between art and technology and has given us the opportunity to grow as well as build an ecosystem of creative professionals that are at the forefront of this creative movement.”
This exhibition is touted as being the culmination of a three-month training programme to upskill and build the capacity of artists through the use of various tools in VR and AR.
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Goethe-Institut and BlackRhino VR say they are leveraging the exhibition as an avenue to take participants through numerous immersive experiences that underscore the power of these new technologies in transforming African economies.They have come up with a plan that will see various stakeholders including government officials, corporate leaders, artists, schools and the media fraternity visit the exhibition on diverse dates during the month.
Wide-scale adoption of these technologies, they say, can revolutionize how many industries are run and provide one of the plausible solutions to address some of the multifaceted challenges faced in society.
“It has been a great 3-year XR journey with our partner Goethe-Institut. Together, we have managed to interact and empower a group of young digital artists both economically and creatively. The success stories are inspiring. BlackRhino VR continues to equip the youth in Kenya and Africa with the necessary VR/AR tools to be the storytellers of the future,” says Shamina Rajab, Communications and Community Manager at BlackRhino VR.
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Noting that VR and AR technologies are more than gaming and entertainment and that the future is being presented with unique opportunities that can be harnessed, the partners observe that there’s need to ensure that both the software and hardware equipment is both affordable and accessible.
Currently, the cost of acquiring the VR/AR technologies is prohibitive, making it difficult to scale them. For example, a VR headset cost an upwards of Sh50 000 which makes it out of reach for many people.
“We are urging the government, policy makers and private stakeholders to support knowledge transfer of immersive technology as well as accessibility to infrastructure that will catapult Extended Reality exploration and innovation,” says Rajab.
This would have the multiplier effect of creating both direct and indirect jobs through empowering techpreneurs who can deliver market-oriented solutions to African challenges, she concludes.
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The artists participating in Sota 3.0 are:
AdamYawe
Adam Yawe is a 3D artist and Product Designer. He runs a skateboarding inspired fashion brand called Zamani Skateboards and is passionate about exploring material culture. Currently, his work focuses on the stories that can be told by objects in Nairobi’s Urban Landscape. He believes objects go on journeys; they have places they come from and a purpose we intended them to serve, and that they can have lives beyond their initial reason for creation.
https://www.instagram.com/not_really_adam/
Project Description – Juani kali
Juani Kali is a VR animated Short film exploring Kenya’s Jua Kali culture and its connection to skateboarding. The Jua Kali practice utilises readily available materials to create final products, similarly, Skateboarding is about using the readily available urban environment as a space for creative expression. Juani Kali follows the Mkokoteni (handcart) we all know and love on a journey from creation to its daily use as a tool for work and finally to its transformed state as an object for creative expression through skateboarding.
Leezie
Letting art get you through the dark
Leezie is a traditional painter, graphic designer and 3D artist based in Nairobi. Her painting styles are; cubism, expressionism and 3D artworks which she expresses on canvas and Tilt Brush, respectively. Human emotions influence her work, as she believes there is more to just a physical face. Leezie tries to paint the inner person and his soul that depicts his true identity, emotions and feelings combined. She believes we mean art to console those who are broken by life. She realised she could say things that she couldn’t say any other way.
Instagram: leezie_arts_
Project Description – The Queen is Dead
Leezie’s VR exhibit ‘The Queen is Dead’ transports viewers into a series of different stages of grief in the King’s perception. A representation of the King’s mental journey after his Queen dies. Leezie tries to show the audience that symptoms of grief present differently in everyone. Each scene represents the seven stages of grief; shock, guilt and pain, anger, depression and loneliness, the upward turn, reconstruction and working through, acceptance and hope.
Husna Ismail
Husna is a multidisciplinary designer, and illustrator based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Being a multifaceted artist has allowed her to work with both traditional and digital media. Her skills have been used in personal and commercial projects to aid in concept visualizing and execution.Being experimental in her work allows her to develop new techniques and forms of expression
Instagram: _nyathira_
Project Description – Growth
The ‘Growth’ VR experience is an Extrapolation of a series she started exploring in 2018 and wanted to give it new life with a different form of expression, especially highlighting relationships between humans and how they affect them.
It is a body of work inspired by personal experiences and those around her on the constant and conscious growth that happens in everyone’s journey of life.
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Angela Cauri
Angela Cauri is a Visual Artist and Architectural Designer pursuing the space of Creative
Technology. As an artist, she recognises a duty to reflect on the times in which we are living. As an aspiring architect, the general contrasts in constructs observed within society inform her professional practice:
-Theory versus Practice
-Reality versus The Imagined
-The Natural versus The Artificial
-The Temporal versus The Spiritual
She is therefore intentional about visually addressing social and cultural issues affecting
the human condition- through creativity and technology.
Instagram: shawry__
Project Description – A Personal Odyssey [Of Thyself]
This project set out to explore Architectural potential within digital narrative form immersive environments. Immersion is the “being-in” of space and time, as opposed to the “looking-at” of the static image. In the experience, various forms of spatial design form a backdrop to a narrative, while the narrative power of space opens itself up to various forms of representation. The project is an embodiment of where architecture meets storytelling. A captured instance of various objects and subjects of daily interaction. A capsule of both personal and collective memories. The aim is to encourage a non-linear, multi-dimensional form of thinking in Architectural representation – which is already commonplace in storytelling.
Gavin
Gavin Kendo is a visual artist based in Nairobi, Kenya. His work so far is heavily based on personal experiences. He tries to portray his own mental state and emotions through a psychedelic lens, by using colour and composition, to add to his storytelling. His main goal, however, is to drive the viewers’ minds to escape reality for the brief moments they interact with his art.
Instagram: kendogavin
Project Description – Cotton Candy Dreams
‘Cotton Candy Dreams’ is an experience tailored for the out-of-place dreamer, the project explores a dreamscape as seen from the minds’ eye of the artist filled with surreal characters and plants. It is a juxtaposition of the artist’s daily interaction with the Kenyan environment andthe universe of information that exists within each one of us. The general feel of the experienceis heavily influenced by Gavin’s personal work, whose intention is to drive the viewer to feel abit more intense than life allows us to.
John Maronga
John Maronga is a freelance self-taught 2D illustrator. He’s a multidisciplinary artist and has worked on various projects such as animation, book illustrations, character design, portraiture and graphic design. He draws inspiration from old master paintings and movie cinematography. Through his art, he hopes to engage the audience by evoking emotions through the use of color and light.
Instagram: john_maronga
Project Description – Euphoria
Maronga’s exhibit ‘Euphoria’ takes the viewer into a musical journey. The story is of a young pastoralist boy seated under a tree taking shade from the scorching sun and how through music he’s able to transverse to a different world. Maronga hopes to arouse your emotions and feelings as you traverse through the virtual world he’s created.
