00:00:00
Speaker 1: Seven Z feature.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: Twelve minutes to two o'clock in our tech feature Forward Today, we are talking about amplifying memory with immersive technologies. Get in touch with us A double one double A three oh seven oh two in the WhatsApp line oh seven two, seven oh two and seven oh two. We are joined by Ingrid Corp, Director of Labs and Partnerships at Electric South. Ingrid, Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining us.
00:00:27
Speaker 1: Thank you, it's great to be here.
00:00:28
Speaker 2: Ingrid, please help us understand what immersive technologies.
00:00:32
Speaker 1: Are sure, I mean, immersive technology span everything from virtual and augmented reality to projection, mapping, haptics, binural and you know, spatial sound. It really covers a lot of different technologies. It's not one technology, and we really look at it as a different way of experiencing stories and a different way of experiencing history, which is what we're doing with this particular project.
00:00:57
Speaker 2: Can we I mean you mentioned a couple that users, you know, terminology, spatial audience, things like that. Can you maybe explain on one or two of them for the listeners that don't live in this world or consume content in that.
00:01:10
Speaker 3: Way of course?
00:01:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that is something that I think those of us in the immersive community are very aware of the fact that a lot of this sounds like gibberish to other people until they experience it. And it's actually in the experience of experiencing of it that you can get really excited about the potential. So, you know, with something like spatial audio, imagine you're in a gallery or a museum and as you walk around the gallery, different sounds are coming at you from different directions, so you actually feel like the sound is surrounding you, or you touch an object and that objects will vibrate and create sound, or you feel like the sound is moving around you, much like you hear things from your left and your eye. It's really experiencing sound in a spatial way.
00:01:51
Speaker 2: And so it's almost like the closest way to give people to maybe think about it is when you got your three DC cinemas with the seats that move, where they were trying to mimic a real thing. This. Now you don't need to sit necessarily in a seat, but there's a whole lot of things that can happen.
00:02:10
Speaker 3: That make you feel like you are living it.
00:02:12
Speaker 2: So if you're watching a Jurassic park, You're going to feel like the dinosaurs are fully around you.
00:02:19
Speaker 1: Exactly, exactly, And in this project, we are actually applying this to heritage and to memory, which is what's really exciting.
00:02:26
Speaker 3: Why did this become?
00:02:27
Speaker 2: And I think it's absolutely brilliant because if there's any way that we can get to re experience our history in different ways and forms, the better. But why was this such an important partnership? You know, together with the Embassy of France in South Africa LSUTU and Malawi, with the French Institute of South Africa and Electric South that you guys got together and decided to do.
00:02:50
Speaker 1: This absolutely and I think, you know, it's this partnership that's really really exciting because we are really interested in supporting a massive artists from me three countries and then working with archives in the three countries to really look at how we can bring those archives to life and how we can bring new audiences to experience those archives in new ways. You know, because I think a lot of people think about archives has sort of been in dusty basements, but these archives hold our collective stories and a lot of these stories, you know, haven't necessarily been discovered or experienced by everyone. So the idea of this is really that we're bringing these archives to life and engaging younger audiences as well, which we think is really important, right, so that we are all able to experience and understand our history is in new ways.
00:03:36
Speaker 3: So some of.
00:03:39
Speaker 2: The selected archival and cultural institutes include the National Films, Video and Sound Archives in Pretoria. We have Gala Queer Archives. In Johannesburg. We have the I don't know how to pronounce this, but it's a quad two cent culture and education center in Zero Fundine. We have Zegel Museums in Cape Town. We have Royal Archives, Museum and Information Center that's in my Seeing in lis and we have Music Crossroads Malawi that's in Lilong in Malawi.
00:04:13
Speaker 3: How are these particular.
00:04:17
Speaker 2: Institutions selected and how did you then start working with them to bring us to life.
00:04:24
Speaker 1: So we had an open call and there was a comprehensive selection process with a jury to select these particular archives. We had archives applying from across the three countries, and what we really wanted to do was get a mix of different kinds of archives, you know. So with the National Film, Video and Found Archives, we've obviously got films in the Mormon of Nanna's collection. With the music Crossroads, we've got incredible folk songs that have been recorded, so it's really great, you know that people can actually play with the immersive architas going to be selected in the next corp. We'll be able to really experience how to create stories out of these different kinds of archives, you know. So some will obviously be very space, very sound based, like with the folk songs, and others might be incorporating film, or incorporating photography or even the written to xts. So it's very exciting for us that we have the geographics spread, but also different kinds of archives and different stories.
00:05:21
Speaker 2: How can local artists, technologis, students and listeners get involved.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: Well, luckily, we actually have an open call at the moment for the next stage of the project. So now what we're looking at is actually bringing immersive artists into the project. So if you go to the IFS website or to the Electric South website, you can see the open call and we are looking for artists teams to apply to work with these archives. They can select which one they'd like to work with, and part of this is also for us to build skills and networks across Africa. So as part of that, they're going to receive funding, but they'll also receive a great deal of mentorship and international exposure, including you know, to France where they can see what people are doing with archives in museums and galleries and cultural institutions there. So this is really not just about creating individual pieces, but about training the next wave of African creatives. You can work at the intersection of art, technology and heritage.
00:06:15
Speaker 2: Can you give us an example, because I think this is so brilliant, especially when it comes to archive. It's not often that people do get access to archives in this way. When a piece of archive and maybe give us an example of what goes into it. So let's say there's a story in a book and this is you know, the oldest written works that existed in the passa.
00:06:45
Speaker 3: I don't know history. I'm just saying off the top of my head. So when the.
00:06:48
Speaker 2: Group comes together to decide how to make this is it where now artists say, I know, let's turn it into a voice over that is telling a story by the fire, and then we can project the you know, the takes. Is that what what the artists bring to the table when they decide how to make this an experience exactly.
00:07:10
Speaker 1: I mean that's what you know, what you just suggested is it is a great way of thinking about, like how do we bring these texts to life in a way that will you know, bring in these new audiences and and a lot of it is really thinking about, Okay, what what is the archive we have, and then how can we bring these stories to life? How can we bring these all histories to life. How can we engage with this cultural memory in new formats you know that will appeal to new generations. So I think, yeah, absolutely, it could be something like that. It could also be, for example, you know, how do we create a virtual reality piece out of these stories where you perhaps use the written text and then you're also perhaps finding some visuals that you could include to bring those texts to life. So we're really relying on the artists to kind of bring their creativity to the space.
00:07:57
Speaker 2: Lets say one of the stories of archives that have been brought to life, especially those that maybe are not the so well known stories, and it doesn't have to be from South Africa, can be any of the other countries.
00:08:12
Speaker 1: Well, oh, you mean, like what is in the archives.
00:08:15
Speaker 3: Yes, any example you can share with us.
00:08:18
Speaker 1: Of course, yes, So I mean, for example with the quater too, Sand Culture and Education Center, they have these incredible liner cuts that were created, And I should add some of these archives are quite recent, right, they're not all I think sometimes people think archive one hundred years ago plus, but some of these artworks were actually created by Sand soldiers who were forcibly relocated after they had fought in the Border Wars, and so it's really they were creating these cuts to capture the displacement, but also the resilience and the identity that they held onto through throughout these displacements. So we're really excited about how immersive artists can work with this original, bold visual storytelling while also holding the culture memory intact. So I think for us, it's also working with communities, living communities, right, because a lot of these stories are continuing with us today. These please communities are alive, they are creating their own work, so a lot of this is about collaboration as well.
00:09:14
Speaker 2: Thank you so so much, Ingrid for for chatting to us and sharing with us.
00:09:20
Speaker 3: What are your final thoughts for all of the listeners.
00:09:22
Speaker 1: Well, I would love any immersive artists out there who are interested in applying, please do apply. And also we are going to be exhibiting these works once they're completed at the end of twenty twenty six, so I hope that audiences will come and see what we make.
00:09:35
Speaker 2: And the website is IFAs dot org dot zaifist dot org dot z A.
00:09:42
Speaker 3: There's a button it says calls.
00:09:44
Speaker 2: You click there and you'll be able to see the different calls.
00:09:49
Speaker 3: That are there as we've discussed Ingrid. Thank you so so much for your time.
00:09:53
Speaker 1: Thank you such a pleasure.
Speaker 1: Seven Z feature.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: Twelve minutes to two o'clock in our tech feature Forward Today, we are talking about amplifying memory with immersive technologies. Get in touch with us A double one double A three oh seven oh two in the WhatsApp line oh seven two, seven oh two and seven oh two. We are joined by Ingrid Corp, Director of Labs and Partnerships at Electric South. Ingrid, Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining us.
00:00:27
Speaker 1: Thank you, it's great to be here.
00:00:28
Speaker 2: Ingrid, please help us understand what immersive technologies.
00:00:32
Speaker 1: Are sure, I mean, immersive technology span everything from virtual and augmented reality to projection, mapping, haptics, binural and you know, spatial sound. It really covers a lot of different technologies. It's not one technology, and we really look at it as a different way of experiencing stories and a different way of experiencing history, which is what we're doing with this particular project.
00:00:57
Speaker 2: Can we I mean you mentioned a couple that users, you know, terminology, spatial audience, things like that. Can you maybe explain on one or two of them for the listeners that don't live in this world or consume content in that.
00:01:10
Speaker 3: Way of course?
00:01:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that is something that I think those of us in the immersive community are very aware of the fact that a lot of this sounds like gibberish to other people until they experience it. And it's actually in the experience of experiencing of it that you can get really excited about the potential. So, you know, with something like spatial audio, imagine you're in a gallery or a museum and as you walk around the gallery, different sounds are coming at you from different directions, so you actually feel like the sound is surrounding you, or you touch an object and that objects will vibrate and create sound, or you feel like the sound is moving around you, much like you hear things from your left and your eye. It's really experiencing sound in a spatial way.
00:01:51
Speaker 2: And so it's almost like the closest way to give people to maybe think about it is when you got your three DC cinemas with the seats that move, where they were trying to mimic a real thing. This. Now you don't need to sit necessarily in a seat, but there's a whole lot of things that can happen.
00:02:10
Speaker 3: That make you feel like you are living it.
00:02:12
Speaker 2: So if you're watching a Jurassic park, You're going to feel like the dinosaurs are fully around you.
00:02:19
Speaker 1: Exactly, exactly, And in this project, we are actually applying this to heritage and to memory, which is what's really exciting.
00:02:26
Speaker 3: Why did this become?
00:02:27
Speaker 2: And I think it's absolutely brilliant because if there's any way that we can get to re experience our history in different ways and forms, the better. But why was this such an important partnership? You know, together with the Embassy of France in South Africa LSUTU and Malawi, with the French Institute of South Africa and Electric South that you guys got together and decided to do.
00:02:50
Speaker 1: This absolutely and I think, you know, it's this partnership that's really really exciting because we are really interested in supporting a massive artists from me three countries and then working with archives in the three countries to really look at how we can bring those archives to life and how we can bring new audiences to experience those archives in new ways. You know, because I think a lot of people think about archives has sort of been in dusty basements, but these archives hold our collective stories and a lot of these stories, you know, haven't necessarily been discovered or experienced by everyone. So the idea of this is really that we're bringing these archives to life and engaging younger audiences as well, which we think is really important, right, so that we are all able to experience and understand our history is in new ways.
00:03:36
Speaker 3: So some of.
00:03:39
Speaker 2: The selected archival and cultural institutes include the National Films, Video and Sound Archives in Pretoria. We have Gala Queer Archives. In Johannesburg. We have the I don't know how to pronounce this, but it's a quad two cent culture and education center in Zero Fundine. We have Zegel Museums in Cape Town. We have Royal Archives, Museum and Information Center that's in my Seeing in lis and we have Music Crossroads Malawi that's in Lilong in Malawi.
00:04:13
Speaker 3: How are these particular.
00:04:17
Speaker 2: Institutions selected and how did you then start working with them to bring us to life.
00:04:24
Speaker 1: So we had an open call and there was a comprehensive selection process with a jury to select these particular archives. We had archives applying from across the three countries, and what we really wanted to do was get a mix of different kinds of archives, you know. So with the National Film, Video and Found Archives, we've obviously got films in the Mormon of Nanna's collection. With the music Crossroads, we've got incredible folk songs that have been recorded, so it's really great, you know that people can actually play with the immersive architas going to be selected in the next corp. We'll be able to really experience how to create stories out of these different kinds of archives, you know. So some will obviously be very space, very sound based, like with the folk songs, and others might be incorporating film, or incorporating photography or even the written to xts. So it's very exciting for us that we have the geographics spread, but also different kinds of archives and different stories.
00:05:21
Speaker 2: How can local artists, technologis, students and listeners get involved.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: Well, luckily, we actually have an open call at the moment for the next stage of the project. So now what we're looking at is actually bringing immersive artists into the project. So if you go to the IFS website or to the Electric South website, you can see the open call and we are looking for artists teams to apply to work with these archives. They can select which one they'd like to work with, and part of this is also for us to build skills and networks across Africa. So as part of that, they're going to receive funding, but they'll also receive a great deal of mentorship and international exposure, including you know, to France where they can see what people are doing with archives in museums and galleries and cultural institutions there. So this is really not just about creating individual pieces, but about training the next wave of African creatives. You can work at the intersection of art, technology and heritage.
00:06:15
Speaker 2: Can you give us an example, because I think this is so brilliant, especially when it comes to archive. It's not often that people do get access to archives in this way. When a piece of archive and maybe give us an example of what goes into it. So let's say there's a story in a book and this is you know, the oldest written works that existed in the passa.
00:06:45
Speaker 3: I don't know history. I'm just saying off the top of my head. So when the.
00:06:48
Speaker 2: Group comes together to decide how to make this is it where now artists say, I know, let's turn it into a voice over that is telling a story by the fire, and then we can project the you know, the takes. Is that what what the artists bring to the table when they decide how to make this an experience exactly.
00:07:10
Speaker 1: I mean that's what you know, what you just suggested is it is a great way of thinking about, like how do we bring these texts to life in a way that will you know, bring in these new audiences and and a lot of it is really thinking about, Okay, what what is the archive we have, and then how can we bring these stories to life? How can we bring these all histories to life. How can we engage with this cultural memory in new formats you know that will appeal to new generations. So I think, yeah, absolutely, it could be something like that. It could also be, for example, you know, how do we create a virtual reality piece out of these stories where you perhaps use the written text and then you're also perhaps finding some visuals that you could include to bring those texts to life. So we're really relying on the artists to kind of bring their creativity to the space.
00:07:57
Speaker 2: Lets say one of the stories of archives that have been brought to life, especially those that maybe are not the so well known stories, and it doesn't have to be from South Africa, can be any of the other countries.
00:08:12
Speaker 1: Well, oh, you mean, like what is in the archives.
00:08:15
Speaker 3: Yes, any example you can share with us.
00:08:18
Speaker 1: Of course, yes, So I mean, for example with the quater too, Sand Culture and Education Center, they have these incredible liner cuts that were created, And I should add some of these archives are quite recent, right, they're not all I think sometimes people think archive one hundred years ago plus, but some of these artworks were actually created by Sand soldiers who were forcibly relocated after they had fought in the Border Wars, and so it's really they were creating these cuts to capture the displacement, but also the resilience and the identity that they held onto through throughout these displacements. So we're really excited about how immersive artists can work with this original, bold visual storytelling while also holding the culture memory intact. So I think for us, it's also working with communities, living communities, right, because a lot of these stories are continuing with us today. These please communities are alive, they are creating their own work, so a lot of this is about collaboration as well.
00:09:14
Speaker 2: Thank you so so much, Ingrid for for chatting to us and sharing with us.
00:09:20
Speaker 3: What are your final thoughts for all of the listeners.
00:09:22
Speaker 1: Well, I would love any immersive artists out there who are interested in applying, please do apply. And also we are going to be exhibiting these works once they're completed at the end of twenty twenty six, so I hope that audiences will come and see what we make.
00:09:35
Speaker 2: And the website is IFAs dot org dot zaifist dot org dot z A.
00:09:42
Speaker 3: There's a button it says calls.
00:09:44
Speaker 2: You click there and you'll be able to see the different calls.
00:09:49
Speaker 3: That are there as we've discussed Ingrid. Thank you so so much for your time.
00:09:53
Speaker 1: Thank you such a pleasure.
