Arab Science Fiction VR Lab
By Flyer srl impresa sociale (Italy), Visual Arts Forum (Palestine) and Medrar for Contemporary Art (Egypt)
When and where?
All-Around Culture - ثقافة داير ما يدور is co-funded by the European Union and implemented by Culture Resource (Lebanon), L'Art Rue (Tunisia), MitOste.V. (Germany) and MMAG Foundation (Jordan).
Thoulathy is jointly implemented by L'Art Rue and MitOst.
As we shift from the world of magic to the realm of science fiction in the 1950s, in Egypt, writers and filmmakers alike begin to imagine new ways and places to be. From Tawfik Al Hakim’s plays entitled ‘Lunar Report’ and ‘A Poet on the Moon’ to Journey to the Moon directed by Hamada Abdel Wahab, an interest in imagining other worlds through narratives of moon exploration grew. The latter movement and the entire sector of arts and culture were deeply impacted by the socio-economic and political transformations the country suffered since the defeat of 1967.
Today, having access to more technological innovations and tools, a desire and need to reconnect with the present moment and imagine or potentially produce alternative worlds reemerges. Medrar for Contemporary Art (Egypt), the Visual Arts Forum (Palestine) and Flyer (Italy) invite artists to reflect on the current socio-economic contexts and build VR artworks that embody conceptions of a future that goes beyond the colonization of distant planets. The lab is also an invitation to dig deeper into the relationship between the literary form and virtual reality as a way to expand our imaginations of what lived realities are and could be. How could the future look, sound, or feel if we remain in the same space?
> About the organizations of Arab Science Fiction VR Lab
Medrar for Contemporary Art is a non-profit art space based in Cairo, Egypt, offering an open platform for conversations and collaborations between artists, as well as institutions, critics, curators, programmers and techies both locally and internationally. Started as a collective in 2005, Medrar has since been acting as a base for emerging and mid-career artists and diffusing experimentations at the intersection of new and diverse practices, media, and technologies. Through experimental and collaborative programs, it facilitates opportunities for mobility, exposure and the development of an independent and dynamic movement of local artists. Alongside multiple activities, Medrar is committed to expanding its 6 key projects: the Cairo Video Festival, Roznama Competition and Exhibition, Roznama Studio Program, Medrar TV, Medrar Studio and MedRX Portal.
Flyer srl impresa sociale has been positioned and distinguished in the national and international scene of the last 15 years for its cultural, creative, innovative and experimental projects, protagonists of prestigious artistic and cultural international events all of them co-founded from EU or national public institutions. Out of many cultural projects Flyer organize during the year, Flyer organize 3 main events all founded from EU Culture programme (since 2011) and from national public funds (since 2008):
LPM Live Performers Meeting born in 2004 happened in Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Belarus and Netherlands, is today the largest event in Audio Visual Performing Arts sector;
Live Cinema Festival is the only one event in the world dedicated only to Live Cinema Performances;
FOTONICA from photon, historically as light, from Greek φωτός (photòs), is a festival that investigates art forms related to the light element, in particular digital light.
In 2012 LPM Received the “Success Story” prize from the European Community
Since 2008 LPM, Live Cinema Festival and Fotonica Festival have been co-funded by the Rome Municipality.
Upon the outbreak of the second Intifada in the year 2000, and the traumatizing individual and collective impact it had on the Palestinian society, a group of Palestinian artists who believe in art as a tool for expression, change, and freedom of thought, initiated a set of street art activities across the villages and cities in the occupied West Bank. They employed art as a means of stress release for children and youth, enhancing the freedom of children and young people to express their views, unleash their imagination, develop creative thought, and freely express ideas and feelings in a safe and creative environment. Realizing the dire need and eagerness of the community to learn visual arts, the Visual Arts Forum (VAF) was established in 2002. Since then, it has provided a safe and creative platform for thousands of children, youth and adults to learn, produce and interact with visual arts, under the slogan “Art is for All”.
Towards a Palestinian society that is aware of its culture and identity, and that believes that art and creativity are main tools of expression, change, development, and freedom of thought.
We aim to provide opportunities to learn visual arts in unconventional methods, and to mainstream its uses in bringing change, and bolstering freedom of thought.