Strategies of Narration in the Virtual Reality

A Talk with Adela Demetja, Valentina Peri, Olson Lamaj, Jon Stam and Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás

This talk takes as a starting point the exhibition Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter with works by duo HUNITI GOLDOX, Olson Lamaj, Valentina Peri, created during two-month residency at Tirana Art Lab. Their works involve Extended Reality tools and deal with issues of public space in the city of Tirana, while engaging with topics of individual and collective memory, water ecosystem and power representation in the virtual age. The exhibition includes the Immaterial Display, an interactive installation for experiencing two legendary landmark exhibitions from the past: Les Immatériaux (Centre Pompidou, 1985), and Iconoclash (ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, 2002).

Artists Valentina Peri and Olson Lamaj, curator Adela Demetja, designer Jon Stam, and head of the Beyond Matter project Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás will discuss from their point of view and practice the strategies of narration in virtual reality and the potentialities that extended realities offer for contemporary and future narratives. 

Olson Lamaj, is a multimedia artist from Albania. Valentina Peri is an independent curator, cultural critic and author based in Paris. Adela Demetja is a curator and director of Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art. Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás is a curator and researcher from Hungary currently working as a scientific associate and curator at ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe. Jon Stam is a designer whose focus is on context driven objects, quality craftsmanship, and quiet interactions. He is co-founder of Commonplace Studio.

The exhibition is part of the large-scale cooperation project Beyond Matter. Cultural Heritage on the Verge of Virtual Reality, dedicated to novel, digital approaches to exhibition revival, documentation, and dissemination, and the artistic and curatorial elaboration of the chances given by virtual representation.

The talk will take place from 15.00-16.30 on Saturday the 23rd of July at the Centre for Narrative Practice  

Project Partners: Tirana Art Lab – Center for Contemporary Art, ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Ludwig Múzeum – Kortárs Művészeti Múzeum, Tallinn Art Hall, Aalto University, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL Pavilions (associated partner).

Co-founded by the Creative Europe Program of the European Union and German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.