Virtual visit to the"Islamic State"

Published on 10.05.2019

A look to the right: Several line figures stand trembling on the wall. A look to the left: on the floor sits a woman trying to calm a baby. A man's voice says that being persecuted for being Jewish should never have happened again. The haunting VR documentary "Paris Terror" reproduces the experiences of the people who hid from a terrorist in the cold room of a kosher supermarket in Paris in 2015. She's part of the VRHAM!- Festival for Virtual Reality Art, which will take place for the second time in the Oberhafenquartier from 7 to 15 June.

"Virtual reality art transcends the boundaries of all conventional forms of representation of art, because it puts the viewer in the center and embraces them with its own 360-degree world," says the artistic director, Ulrich Schrauth. The first festival was still an attempt, but the response showed that it was successful: More than 4000 visitors watched the exhibition last year. "We will therefore involve more artists this year and also show more different formats," said Schrauth. For example, there will be VR music and dance theater. These will be in the block VRHAM! Live summed up, there is also the main exhibition VREXHIBITION and a free additional program.

Daily new art at the Rathausmarkt

The exhibiting artists will show a variety of works on the theme "Dis:Solution". The "cyber robbers" from Germany, for example, let visitors equipped with VR glasses participate in Romeo and Juliet's first encounter. Iraqi artist Gayatri Parameswaran takes his audience to the city of Fallujah, which until recently was controlled by ISIS. The visitors accompany a man who returns to his homeland and is driven by the fear of booby traps hidden by IS.

The organizers also want to turn the city center into a public exhibition area. The Spanish artist Magoz will show a different one of his graphic works of art every day at the Town Hall Market. Passers - by can easily scan a QR code with their smartphone and search for the augmented reality illustrations.

The fact that VR is also used by established artists was already evident in the selection of exhibitors last year. In 2018, for example, Jonathan Meese was also represented at the festival. Visitors could participate in VR glasses, as the artist from Ahrensburg interacts with his mother.

Tickets are now available via www.vrham.de available. Admission to the exhibition costs eight euros, reduced five euros. The VREXHIBITION can be visited daily from 14: 00 to 17: 00 and from 17: 30 to 21: 00. In addition, there are live performances, concerts and theater performances on several dates, which are offered for 14 euros each (reduced eleven euros). Admission to the accompanying discourse program, which is offered daily from 2 to 9 pm, is free.