Collective Dreamscape
“I got the sense that you would actually like to change the world… you are in an art context but it is not just art.”
An immersive dreamscape of sound and vision, convening global indigenous stories that challenge colonial constructs of time and create a space for imagining multiple futures.
Collective Dreamscape is an immersive experience of sound and vision, convening global indigenous stories that challenge colonial constructs of time and create a space for imagining multiple futures. The concept is created in response to the After The End project led by Prof. Patricia Kingori (Ethox Centre, University of Oxford). The installation of sensory layers created through projection mapping and a soundscape blends oral histories, music, and natural sounds from global indigenous communities: Krio (Sierra Leone), Sarawakian (Borneo), Diné/ White Mountain Apache (USA), Zezuru (Zimbabwe).
By erasing conventional notions of definitive starting and endings, we highlight non-linear cultural conceptions of time and memory.
“I was blown away by the anthropological approach taken to the work - really thinking globally, beyond the specific context of this location [in Oxford].”
The project explores how XR can transform our understanding of time, memory, and future-creation in the face of post-colonial and post-Capitalist crises, and how can we create inclusive experiences that resonate interculturally.
We challenge traditional narratives - particularly those shaped by colonial, linear, and Western perspectives - which often fail to capture the complexities of time, memory and healing across diverse cultures. We interrogate how immersive arts can bridge this gap for marginalised communities that experience time as nonlinear, endings as fragile, and for whom storytelling carries the weight of justice, healing, and legacy.
Collective Dreamscape reimagines how marginalised histories are preserved, shared, and experienced in an era of technological transformation, centring indigenous and marginalised perspectives, and exploring the tensions between permanence and ephemerality in collective memory.
We hold the echoes of the past with one hand, the stories of the present with the other and bring them together with intimate care to look to a better future.
Lead Artists
Chipo Mapondera is a Creative Technologist whose multidisciplinary immersive work connects the tangible and intangible cultures of her native Zimbabwe, and beyond. Winning an Innovate UK Award and nominations for AIXR and STARTS Africa awards. Exhibited internationally at National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Fakugesi, and Hypha Studios, Chipo has presented at the Leverhulme Centre (CFI) and Sussex Digital Humanities Lab, and is selected for CPH:LAB 2024/25.
Alysha Nelson is a multidisciplinary creative exploring perception, consciousness, and marginalised histories. Exhibited internationally, productions that she has been a part of have earned an Emmy nomination, Cannes Lion, SXSW Innovation Award, and more, for use of digital, storytelling, and unique engagement with history.
This project was created in collaboration with:
Prof. Patricia Kingori (Ethox Centre, University of Oxford)
Prof. Osman Sankoh (University of Management and Technology (UNIMTECH), Sierra Leone)
HAUS - Harapan Anak Urang (Sarawak) Sdn. Bhd.
Sound Design: Fungai Nengare (The Studio Inc.)
Visuals: Joel Chandauka
Production Support: Kunstraum Productions
Contributors: Amak Roba, Dr. Danya Carroll, Augustine Musa Koroma, Susan Mapondera, Sabina Mutsvati
Commissioned & Produced by Mediale
Supported by the Cultural Programme at the Stephen A.Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, University of Oxford, the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub - Jesus College Oxford, and Arts Council England.
Immersive Assembly Vol. 4: Dreams & Echoes
Monday 18 - Thursday 21 November 2024
Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub - Jesus College Oxford
“I was deeply impressed by the multi-sensory experience. The connection with nature and hearing human stories is something we are missing. You are helping to bring us closer to nature and vice versa.”
The residency took place between May – November 2024, supporting 6 UK-based artists to collaborate and develop proposals for immersive experiences. The cohort developed projects which invite us to explore the potential of immersive media in interrogating consciousness and enabling new interpretations of ‘reality’.
In the context of new technologies, as our understanding of consciousness evolves beyond human thinking, IA4 provided participants with the opportunity to explore neuroscience, mental health, access and medical science research expertise, as well as cutting edge AI and ethics research, and globally leading immersive art.
Drawing on the world-leading research of academics at the University of Oxford, the artists were invited to consider the role that immersive experiences can play in the exploration of what consciousness means now, and what it could mean in the future.
“There’s something in the soft power of the work - to make people feel experiences. It’s important to have [these] quieter activist spaces where people can be moved to think and feel differently.”
Amak Roba
Bhuket community, Sarawak, Malaysia
Language: Malay and Bhuket
Collected Dreamscape
Dr. Danya Carroll, Susan Mapondera,
Sabina Mutsvati
Augustine Musa Koroma, 24
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Language: Krio