18 November - 28 February 2022
Al Zawraa Park Baghdad
AR Open is an art exhibition in public space space that presents via Augmented Reality (AR) new productions by Iraqi artists in Baghdad. The exhibition runs parallel to the 7th TARKIB Baghdad Contemporary Arts Festival in Al-Zawraa Park.
Artistic experiments, site-specific interventions, dreams and utopias shape the exhibition and merge the perception of the real and digital realm. Aesthetic traditions and new technologies unite in the production of the exhibition and offer a new approach to public space and the audience.
Young Iraqi artists, designers and architects worked together on the project and produced 17 artworks for the exhibition in a series of 3d-workshops. Many of the works relate to Iraqi reality and address social and personal issues that appear via Augmented Reality. The exhibition is on view via smartphone or tablet on site.
Augmented Reality is a new medium that is able to change our daily life in many ways. It can trigger imagination and creativity and challenge our perception of reality. AR connects people and ideas and facilitates cultural exchange.
Playful and subtile, the exhibition is aiming to inspire a wide audience that can expand the show through interaction with AR and their own photos and videos online. For the interested youth and creative community of Baghdad we recommend the free open-source program Blender and a visit to BAIT TARKIB creative center in Karada.
AR OPEN is a project by EMCUE and TARKIB
in cooperation with GIZ-Private Sector Development and Employment Promotion Project (GIZ-PSD)
and Arpha Program for Art and Augmented Reality.