Meta Hosts Extended Reality (XR) Exhibition to Showcase Winners of the Future Africa Grant for Extended Reality Creators – African Business

Meta (www.Facebook.comToday, ) revealed an exclusive XR Exhibition featuring six finalists from The ‘Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds’ This program is focused on the next generation of Extended Reality creators in Africa. Developed in partnership with Africa No Filter, Electric South and Imisi 3D this forms part of Meta’s XR Programs and Research investment into XR talents across Africa.

The finalist have created a range immersive digital experiences rooted within African culture, using a variety media formats, including 360 video, AR/VR, Mixed Reality, and Mixed Reality.

Some of the featured experiences include:

• Malik Afegbua, Nigeria: Malik’s ‘Moving Between’ is a 360 documentary that presents a virtual heritage experience of the Kofar-Mata dye pit, a cultural and historical site in Kano, Nigeria, by showcasing it in a three-dimensional virtual reality model. A deaf dancer leads the audience through the historic Kofar Mata dye pits in a five-minute immersive experience. She uses sign language instructions and dance to guide the audience.

• Xabiso Vili, South Africa: A writer, performer and new media artist, Xabiso’s ‘Black Boi meets Boogeyman’ is a multi-ending, ‘choose your adventure’ style 360° visual album. A speculative fiction piece where Black Boi, our protagonist, goes on a hero’s journey through a South Africa that needs reminding of its light to confront the Boogeyman. This 360 visual album is intended to be an accessible point for artists and communities to imagine using XR artistically as well as intentionally for community healing.

• Dylan Valley, South Africa: Dylan’s Cissie Gool House is a 360 documentary A documentary about precarious housing in a Cape Town hospital. The 360 documentary will take the viewer on a journey through the occupation, as if they were part of the reclaiming of the building. The film will highlight the voices of activists and occupiers who call Cissie Gool Home home and talk to those who would prefer them gone. These characters, often demonized by the media, will feel more empathic through VR. It will help you understand what it means to occupy, especially if it is your only option.

• Nirma Madhoo, Mauritius: Fashion filmmaker, XR creator, and Ph.D. candidate. Nirma’s ‘XWE,’ 360 Fashion film Volumetric capture and photogrammetry are a tribute to the original stargazers from Southern Africa. It will be a Noirwave fashion performance that celebrates the constellations of dispersed African identities in a VR environment of astrophysics.

• Pierre-Christophe Gam, Cameroon: Pierre is a multimedia artist who worked on ‘TOGUNA’, a hybrid (both live and online) Art installation, fusing AR/VR, film, photography, mixed-media sculpture, future-thinking and storytelling, designed to facilitate a forum for an innovative conversation on the future of the African continent. This allows for a AR and WebVR Experience

• Michelle Angawa, Kenya: A film editor and XR creator, Michelle’s ‘1000 Shillings in Nairobi,’ a 360 fiction film is a short tragicomedy depicting a day in a Nairobian Boda rider’s life. He has a series of bizarre encounters as he tries to pay KSH 1000 ($10) motorbike loan.

Sherry Dzinoreva, Meta’s Public Policy Programs Director, Africa, Middle East, and Turkey, said: “As the next phase of this programme, we’re delighted to be unveiling this specially curated exhibition featuring the work of six talented creators from across the continent, all of whom have created beautiful, thought-provoking African stories and experiences using immersive technology. We know that Africa holds immense talent, which we see reflected in the experiences curated, and as we set our sights on the metaverse, we believe creators, especially those on the continent, will play a key role in unlocking its potential.”

Commenting on the ‘Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds’ programme, Moky Makura, Executive Director, Africa No Filter added “We know the power stories have when it comes to influencing and shaping perceptions about Africa. That power is amplified when those stories are immersive and that is what today’s technologies offer storytellers. It’s exciting to be part of an initiative that has allowed us to tap into the future of storytelling in Africa.”

Distributed by APO Group for Meta

About Meta
Meta creates technologies that allow people to connect, build communities, and expand their businesses. Facebook was launched in 2004 and changed the way people connect. Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other apps have empowered billions of people around the globe. Meta is now moving beyond 2D screens to immersive experiences like augmented or virtual reality to help build the next generation of social technology.