The HeadRead Literary Festival will feature performances of the mixed reality production Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain by Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen. The European premiere of the production, which was first performed in Estonia in Tartu last November, took place in autumn at the Performing Arts & Digitalität festival in Germany and was very well received there. In Tallinn, this physical environment and literary virtual space can be seen in the building of the National Library of Estonia (RaRa) at Narva maantee.
“This is a very calm and poetic experience,” producer and Elektron.art project manager Anu Almik says, describing the production.
Technically, the performance means that the visitor is given a set of mixed reality glasses, through which both the existing physical environment and creations in the virtual world can be seen. Emotionally, it is a physical reading experience and a choreography thoughts, which the authors of the production Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen have described as the intertwining of physical and virtual space into one perceptible reality with all senses, in which the visitor is the protagonist. The trailer of the production gives an idea of the experience.
Based on the concept of the production, the authors wanted the work to be set in a public space through which people pass – that is why the performances take place in the lobby of RaRa and not a conventional performing arts venue. The library is the perfect place to for a performance that peers into the realm of thought.
“This is a rare project and experiment on the temporary premises of RaRa before moving back to the Tõnismäe building. When our readers come for a book, they can have an abstract experience of what a text does to a person. I’ve often wondered if there are things that cannot be put into words. Or that cannot be danced, for example. Or that maybe anything is possible. To evoke the charm of words in other ways is a welcome endeavour. I hope the authors will keep up the good work!” RaRa’s cultural adviser Karl Martin Sinijärv said.
Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain lasts 15 minutes and can be viewed in both Estonian and English. The performance can be experienced by two people at the same time, one person in each language at a time. The show starts every half hour.
The performance Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain will be shown at the HeadRead Festival from 11:00 to 19:30 from 28 to 30 May and from 12:30 to 18:30 on 31 May. The ticket for the performance costs 7 euros and can be purchased from the ticket sales environment Fienta.
You can read more about the mixed reality production on the Elektron.art website.
Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain
Authors: Liis Vares and David Jansen
Mixed reality solution by Norbert Pape (Berlin, Germany)
Sound design by Mihkel Tomberg
Graphic design by Jaan Evart
Stage/room design by Mari Möldre
Photographer: Alissa Šnaider
Videographer: Piibe Kolka
Producer: Anu Almik, elektron.art
