1 00:00:03,129 --> 00:00:16,500 *35C3 preroll music* 2 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:23,529 Herald: Most recently in South Africa, it was an awesome experience, awesome people, 3 00:00:23,529 --> 00:00:30,550 awesome culture but while I only experienced the tourists way, Sélim Harbi 4 00:00:30,550 --> 00:00:36,450 brings us the local guide culture. Sélim allows an immersive and almost physical 5 00:00:36,450 --> 00:00:44,800 experience of the African identity. Please welcome on stage Sélim Harby and 6 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:54,220 Afroroutes. *Applause* 7 00:00:54,220 --> 00:00:59,328 Sélim: Hi, can you hear me? So first of all thank you very much to be here. 8 00:00:59,328 --> 00:01:05,750 I wasn't expecting so much crowd. So again, give a big applause for yourself. Thank 9 00:01:05,750 --> 00:01:14,079 you very, very much to be here. *Applause* And thank you for the CCC. It's the first time I'm 10 00:01:14,079 --> 00:01:19,583 here and really experiencing something totally new for me. And thank you for the 11 00:01:19,583 --> 00:01:26,170 curators. Thank you for really giving me the stage to explore with you further this 12 00:01:26,170 --> 00:01:34,399 project which is Afroroutes. First of all, I want to tell you something which is very 13 00:01:34,399 --> 00:01:41,579 personal. The very first time when I was in Africa, in North Africa, I was invited 14 00:01:41,579 --> 00:01:47,600 for a ceremony, a ritual, in Morocco. This ceremony is Gnaoua. I don't know if you 15 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:53,970 heard about it. So basically I was surrounded by African descendants and I 16 00:01:53,970 --> 00:01:59,570 knew that those descendants are slave descendants that has been transported and 17 00:01:59,570 --> 00:02:06,899 displaced from sub-Saharan Africa to Morocco. So this ceremony was a pretty 18 00:02:06,899 --> 00:02:13,640 powerful for me. The more I asked the question about what is the purpose of 19 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:21,650 this, why are you doing that. I really started to explore the history of Africa 20 00:02:21,650 --> 00:02:30,645 through that. So a couple of years after that I was luckily able to be in Brazil in 21 00:02:30,645 --> 00:02:39,280 Salvador de Bahía. I was also invited to a kind of ceremony called Candomblé, I don't 22 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:46,180 know if some of you heard about it, and the thing is that during the Candomblé 23 00:02:46,180 --> 00:02:52,370 ritual they were explaining me that, we do that just to reconnect to the African 24 00:02:52,370 --> 00:03:01,510 continent, to reconnect with our ancestors and our history, our slavery history, so 25 00:03:01,510 --> 00:03:09,320 between Morocco and Brazil I knew that my story is there. So, Afroroutes is born out of 26 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:18,040 this conviction that the displaced culture from Africa crossing the sea to Latin 27 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:26,100 America was a pretty unexplored story. We see it like slavery. Slavery could be a 28 00:03:26,100 --> 00:03:34,370 very, very large concept, large idea, very heavy history for the Africans themselves. 29 00:03:34,370 --> 00:03:39,980 And I wanted to absolutely to avoid this kind of images that we used to see, I 30 00:03:39,980 --> 00:03:45,260 don't know if some of you saw Amistad, the film, and this is like classical narrative 31 00:03:45,260 --> 00:03:51,640 of blacks being beaten etc. which is reality. I wanted to go beyond that and I 32 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,540 wanted to explore how those diasporas still connected with their ancestors and 33 00:03:56,540 --> 00:04:02,500 how is the function of music within this ceremony. So basically, Afroroots is born 34 00:04:02,500 --> 00:04:15,860 out of this perspective. Second of all, I've been also luckily involved in a great 35 00:04:15,860 --> 00:04:21,320 project, three, four years ago where I explored or I got in touch with a 36 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:27,150 fantastic medium which is Virtual Reality. I don't know if some of you tried some VR, 37 00:04:27,150 --> 00:04:34,560 but VR was for me a really new exploration of how we can tell the story differently. 38 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:41,930 How can we really engage and create another type of connection with stories 39 00:04:41,930 --> 00:04:46,200 and have a totally different approach with time and space. This project called The 40 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:51,910 Enemy allows me really to widen my perspective as a storyteller and really go 41 00:04:51,910 --> 00:04:59,560 into a totally different path, so I decided to use this medium which is the 42 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:10,620 VR, not because I'm most like many of actors now in the media field, surfing the 43 00:05:10,620 --> 00:05:15,940 hype or whatever, it's cool to have the goggles and say, wow it's fantastic. It's 44 00:05:15,940 --> 00:05:26,556 just because I was deeply convinced that VR is the proper medium for this story. 45 00:05:26,556 --> 00:05:36,880 So Virtual Reality, I'm not here the preacher of VRs. It's for me a very powerful medium in the 46 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:43,010 sense of it puts you really in the center of a reality. You don't have to receive 47 00:05:43,010 --> 00:05:49,460 data, you don't receive a narrative, you don't receive, you just put into center of 48 00:05:49,460 --> 00:05:54,830 reality and you empower your view somehow to really interpret data in a very 49 00:05:54,830 --> 00:06:02,350 subjective way what you see and what you feel. In my eyes, it could be also as I 50 00:06:02,350 --> 00:06:09,190 hear you can see, it could be really the next anthropology tool and in that sense, 51 00:06:09,190 --> 00:06:13,680 it will transform the whole knowledge that we could have one century long into real 52 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:19,449 experiences which is totally different than just reading a book that someone else 53 00:06:19,449 --> 00:06:29,020 wrote it or imagined. So VR is creating powerful memories because just for the 54 00:06:29,020 --> 00:06:43,041 fact that it provides the context of what you are seeing. Please, first of all, take 55 00:06:43,041 --> 00:06:54,910 a look at the trailer of Afroroutes and we talk a little bit after. 56 00:06:54,910 --> 00:07:04,620 *Video starts playing* 57 00:07:04,620 --> 00:07:07,890 Sélim: No sound. 58 00:07:22,540 --> 00:07:25,620 It's ok. It happens. 59 00:07:31,545 --> 00:07:37,900 *Sound starts* 60 00:08:03,310 --> 00:08:04,310 Sélim in the video: Centuries ago, many 61 00:08:04,310 --> 00:08:09,040 Africans were forced to leave their countries. They were spread in different 62 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:15,360 corners of the world. A long, long journey through lands and seas. They left 63 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:20,340 everything behind. They had to leave. They could only keep their language, their 64 00:08:20,340 --> 00:08:25,411 culture and of course, their music. So there is a bigger story than slavery 65 00:08:25,411 --> 00:08:30,999 itself. This project is not another apology of slavery. I want to look beyond 66 00:08:30,999 --> 00:08:38,121 that. What happened after? Where are the slaves descendants today? What did they 67 00:08:38,121 --> 00:08:43,614 produce in terms of cultures? How was their heritage leave they celebrated? 68 00:08:43,614 --> 00:08:48,418 Is there any tangible memory form. So I decided to follow the path of the slavery 69 00:08:48,418 --> 00:08:51,997 roads and I knew that music will guide my journey. 70 00:08:58,342 --> 00:09:00,561 For many years, I travelled in 71 00:09:00,561 --> 00:09:04,956 different countries and met several diasporas and experienced their well- 72 00:09:04,956 --> 00:09:10,180 conserved cultures and of course their music. No history book could explain me 73 00:09:10,180 --> 00:09:17,490 slavery and the cultural dynamics within better than being almost there. 74 00:09:17,490 --> 00:09:24,529 This is exactly what Afroroutes project is about. I'm using Virtual Reality in 360 videos to 75 00:09:24,529 --> 00:09:28,887 take you on a journey to meet those African descendants, to hear their stories 76 00:09:28,887 --> 00:09:40,910 and experience their heritage. Here is my concept. As you start to 77 00:09:40,910 --> 00:09:46,730 experience, you will be surrounded by four characters. Simply by choosing one, you 78 00:09:46,730 --> 00:09:51,711 will be brought to a destination. The character will tell you his story, will 79 00:09:51,711 --> 00:09:57,670 show you his surroundings before bringing you to a specific ritual. 80 00:09:57,670 --> 00:10:09,505 *Voice singing in the video* 81 00:10:09,505 --> 00:10:15,605 Man speaking in video: My name is ... I'm ... 82 00:10:15,605 --> 00:10:23,727 in Tangier, Morocco. I am born in ... a slaves house. I grew up there. 83 00:10:40,387 --> 00:10:45,900 Sélim in the video: And that's not all. We want to bring you much closer. At the end, 84 00:10:45,900 --> 00:10:52,700 you will be invited to play music with the characters to feel that physical experience. 85 00:11:07,330 --> 00:11:11,899 Sélim: Thank you very much. 86 00:11:11,899 --> 00:11:15,260 *applause* Sélim: So basically I decided to go on 87 00:11:15,260 --> 00:11:22,310 music in this journey because before drafting the first prototype by writing 88 00:11:22,310 --> 00:11:29,050 the concept of this project, I did a lot research and one of my biggest hurdle was, 89 00:11:29,050 --> 00:11:34,279 I wasn't able to find trustful archives. I wasn't able to find really powerful 90 00:11:34,279 --> 00:11:41,480 testimonies of what happened exactly. The only archives I could found were somewhere 91 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:49,310 in the Western world, not in Africa, not in African bibliotheks, somehow kind of 92 00:11:49,310 --> 00:11:54,620 jailed into Western bibliotheks of big institutions. So for me it was a big 93 00:11:54,620 --> 00:12:00,320 problem and most of this narrative or the version of this narrative is basically 94 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:06,460 written by people who enslaved the Africans. So for me it was a big problem. 95 00:12:06,460 --> 00:12:12,750 I can not tell this story from the perspective of Western perspective which I 96 00:12:12,750 --> 00:12:19,360 used of course because it gives a lot of data and information. So for me it was 97 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:25,620 clear, in order to tell this story I need to go deeper into archives. I really need 98 00:12:25,620 --> 00:12:32,550 to go into what we call the meta archives which is simply the oral tradition. It's 99 00:12:32,550 --> 00:12:35,870 what the people used to say and transmit generation after generation. In this case, 100 00:12:35,870 --> 00:12:42,010 music was absolutely what I was looking for because, if you look at little bit of 101 00:12:42,010 --> 00:12:47,850 the history, those communities wherever through the trans-Atlantic slave trade, 102 00:12:47,850 --> 00:12:52,519 the trans-Pacific slave trade or the trans-Saharan slave trade, that's like 103 00:12:52,519 --> 00:12:59,589 400, 500 years, but the communities in Brazil for example, they're still speaking 104 00:12:59,589 --> 00:13:05,120 Yoruba which is the language from western coast. The people the Siddi in India, they 105 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:11,070 still talking Kiswahili. So it is really powerful how the music could maintain this 106 00:13:11,070 --> 00:13:17,680 intangible form in a very intact way and it's still very very powerful. So I 107 00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:25,050 decided to go absolutely on music and explore this displacement through music. 108 00:13:25,050 --> 00:13:33,149 As you can see in this map, I could identify also several diasporas. First of 109 00:13:33,149 --> 00:13:38,410 all, in North Africa which is the Gnawa and Stambeli communities which are sub- 110 00:13:38,410 --> 00:13:44,250 Saharan, African transported through the slavery caravans from the Sahara to North 111 00:13:44,250 --> 00:13:50,899 Africa. You have also the trans-Atlantic slave trade which is mainly, the entry 112 00:13:50,899 --> 00:13:56,360 door was Salvador de Bahía. 90 percent of all slaves transported from the western 113 00:13:56,360 --> 00:14:00,640 coast where proceed. The entry door was Salvador de Bahía and from there was they 114 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:06,740 were spread into the whole Caribbean and from there to the US. So for me, Salvador 115 00:14:06,740 --> 00:14:14,120 de Bahía was a key point to explore this and another very untold story, I'm coming 116 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:20,060 like three weeks ago from Gujarat from India where I've been able to visit and 117 00:14:20,060 --> 00:14:27,720 explore a little bit the other journey which is the trans-Pacific journey. From 118 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:34,480 the Indian cities, the African descended from the eastern coast, Zanzibar and 119 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:40,970 Kenya. So I tried to have this three destinations to have a better overview of 120 00:14:40,970 --> 00:14:49,150 what those traditions are. Let me explain you shortly what you can expect in this 121 00:14:49,150 --> 00:14:54,190 experience. So basically you will have a menu. Three characters would be in front 122 00:14:54,190 --> 00:14:59,350 of you. And as I say in the trailer, you just have to pick up one, you choose one, 123 00:14:59,350 --> 00:15:03,370 and you just embark. You don't know who is the person and you don't know where you 124 00:15:03,370 --> 00:15:08,899 embark. It's exactly like the slaves condition in that time. So you embark to a 125 00:15:08,899 --> 00:15:18,360 destination and at the end, you will discover where is the destination. So you 126 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:24,770 will meet three characters. First of all, what you saw in the trailer was a maestro, 127 00:15:24,770 --> 00:15:36,410 healer Abdullah el Gordh from Tangier, Morocco. Luzinho do Jeje, a percussionist 128 00:15:36,410 --> 00:15:45,959 in a Candomblé group in Salvador de Bahía and Siddi Goma which is a band in Siddi in 129 00:15:45,959 --> 00:15:52,690 India, African descendant and performing the what they call Damal which is a ritual 130 00:15:52,690 --> 00:16:04,790 from the Southern India. Ok, so the experience is quite simple. You get into 131 00:16:04,790 --> 00:16:11,980 this menu, you choose a character and then you have a very linear story, 360 story. 132 00:16:11,980 --> 00:16:19,339 Actually the purpose of that is to have this character trying to define the place, 133 00:16:19,339 --> 00:16:27,140 the environment, who he is, and trying to introduce you slowly to this to his 134 00:16:27,140 --> 00:16:32,310 community. And after that you will be totally in a ceremony and a ritual, in a 135 00:16:32,310 --> 00:16:37,720 specific ritual. You could ask me why ritual, what is ritual, why you choose to 136 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:47,120 put us in the ritual? Personally I think that a ritual or ceremony is in one hand 137 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,980 the pure manifestation of that well- conserved memory, once, and in the other 138 00:16:51,980 --> 00:16:58,830 hand it is a multimedia explosion. You see things, you see colors, you see dance, you 139 00:16:58,830 --> 00:17:05,529 listen to music, you just explore in all senses and in that sense, VR is very 140 00:17:05,529 --> 00:17:16,339 powerful to transmit that. Of course as user you will be able to stop if you want 141 00:17:16,339 --> 00:17:21,470 but and this is why how technology is very powerful in this project. You can't 142 00:17:21,470 --> 00:17:26,720 go further because the structure of the ritual is basically, the music is gonna go 143 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:36,250 a little bit up and up and up in the ritual. The people go in trance. Why? 144 00:17:36,250 --> 00:17:44,110 Because this trances is the way to reconnect with their ancestors. For some 145 00:17:44,110 --> 00:17:49,700 people maybe it's like something really new. But the music frequencies that are 146 00:17:49,700 --> 00:17:53,750 produced during a ceremony whatever with drums, whatever with other instrument 147 00:17:53,750 --> 00:18:02,300 jingles etc. put them in a situation where they really connect with their 148 00:18:02,300 --> 00:18:08,100 ancestors were there with their heritage, with the memories and the challenge of 149 00:18:08,100 --> 00:18:17,320 this project was to reproduce this. Me or you, you may want to experience that. So 150 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:22,299 what you are doing now basically is, we are working on a technical solution, 151 00:18:22,299 --> 00:18:32,010 basically an algorithm which measuring your frequencies and your body movement. 152 00:18:32,010 --> 00:18:37,120 If you want to go in trance you can. If you want to stay in the ritual you can. 153 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:41,460 The more you stay, the more the music will go up and more will transport you with 154 00:18:41,460 --> 00:18:48,020 them. If you if it is too much for you, you step back and you go back to the menu, 155 00:18:48,020 --> 00:18:57,299 as simple as that. Those are some testimonies because during this project, 156 00:18:57,299 --> 00:19:01,720 as many of you doing projects, you have moments when you are doubting. You say 157 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:09,030 what the fuck are you doing. What's this? Why are you doing that? So what I always 158 00:19:09,030 --> 00:19:12,960 do is like when I produce the first prototype, I go to the people back and say 159 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:21,010 look, this is what I'm doing. What do you think? So, this Maestro of Genua told me, 160 00:19:21,010 --> 00:19:24,800 this is what I always dreamed about. I knew that I have brothers and the other 161 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:30,679 side. So for me it's a very powerful testimony that their memories still 162 00:19:30,679 --> 00:19:36,770 gravitating between the sea and they know that they have parents, family that 163 00:19:36,770 --> 00:19:41,460 crossed the borders or crossed the sea and they are there. So for me it's very 164 00:19:41,460 --> 00:19:45,540 powerful to know that those people understand what is the purpose of this 165 00:19:45,540 --> 00:19:53,210 work and from the other side too. So in Brazil I had this crazy testimony which 166 00:19:53,210 --> 00:19:58,820 with where this Maos de Santos told me, we don't need passports anymore, so we can 167 00:19:58,820 --> 00:20:10,070 be everywhere. Lately in India, Mr Sabia which is the lead singer of the Cidi told 168 00:20:10,070 --> 00:20:15,940 me this is our music there. So for me all those testimonies show me that this 169 00:20:15,940 --> 00:20:22,750 project is on a good path somehow and the purpose why I'm doing that is actually 170 00:20:22,750 --> 00:20:28,950 and I think beyond music and beyond slavery and et cetera this dynamics of 171 00:20:28,950 --> 00:20:33,210 displacement when people move from place to place, they carry on a set of 172 00:20:33,210 --> 00:20:41,210 knowledge, set of wisdom with them and sometimes we think it's gonna be lost 173 00:20:41,210 --> 00:20:50,200 somehow in the space but I don't think so. Personally I think that memory is still a 174 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:58,490 life always. And music is really powerful to tell us that the memory can be always 175 00:20:58,490 --> 00:21:05,090 kept intact. And what I learned also through this project is that through the 176 00:21:05,090 --> 00:21:12,770 suffering of being displaced of being taken somewhere as they create beauty. 177 00:21:12,770 --> 00:21:19,670 Beauty has been created, celebrated, transcended into new identity which is 178 00:21:19,670 --> 00:21:24,620 very beautiful because if you see the Brazilians. They are now part of Brazil, 179 00:21:24,620 --> 00:21:29,332 despite the whole harsh situation that they are living in, their living there, 180 00:21:29,332 --> 00:21:34,510 that they're still, they adapted to new environment where they are and it's the 181 00:21:34,510 --> 00:21:44,160 same for all displaced cultures from Africa. So outputs of this project, first 182 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,640 of all, we will produce an app which is going to be free to download so that 183 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:56,309 everyone can experience it on very normal basic cardboard and also multi user 184 00:21:56,309 --> 00:22:04,281 experience. So one of my main purpose and of doing this project, so I want to have 185 00:22:04,281 --> 00:22:10,991 a kind of social impact through that. I want to explain somehow slavery in a 186 00:22:10,991 --> 00:22:17,299 totally different way. I want to have a kind of educational part of this project. 187 00:22:17,299 --> 00:22:22,910 So I want that children can go through that, listen to some music, listen to some 188 00:22:22,910 --> 00:22:30,679 strong story but also understand differently what happens. Because maybe we 189 00:22:30,679 --> 00:22:34,600 love to dance on soul music, jazz music but somehow we forget where it's coming 190 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:40,340 from and then what is the whole journey that we all today's pretend that we are 191 00:22:40,340 --> 00:22:44,430 open and love this jazz music and stuff. But we don't understand where it's coming 192 00:22:44,430 --> 00:22:58,530 from. Why is it like this? How those displaced communities had lived. That we 193 00:22:58,530 --> 00:23:07,110 today can listen to their music and enjoy it. So I actually I am, in order to finish 194 00:23:07,110 --> 00:23:21,840 this small speech. You know what's this? Actually I made, I made some research 195 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:30,980 because early this year I was invited to have a TedX-Talk in Cape Verde and the theme 196 00:23:30,980 --> 00:23:39,780 was roots, Wurzeln, and I made some research and I found out that 99 percent 197 00:23:39,780 --> 00:23:49,260 of the plants on this earth cannot live without roots in the site. Only one plant 198 00:23:49,260 --> 00:23:56,320 and this plant is magic. This plant could transform the role of the roots in the 199 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:04,299 soil through the leaves. The name of this plant is Tillandsias and it's a very 200 00:24:04,299 --> 00:24:09,860 inspiring plant because it has like through the years transformed the role of 201 00:24:09,860 --> 00:24:14,559 the roots into to something else. It lives without roots. For me it's a very 202 00:24:14,559 --> 00:24:20,730 inspiring plant because it kind of reminds us that we we are all like kind of 203 00:24:20,730 --> 00:24:23,980 we can reinvent ourself and this is the case also for those displaced 204 00:24:23,980 --> 00:24:30,690 communities. They reinvented something. They really transformed and transformed, 205 00:24:30,690 --> 00:24:37,320 transcended that identity to something beautiful. So far, I came to the end of 206 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,900 my pitch. Thank you very much. If you have questions ... 207 00:24:41,900 --> 00:24:46,299 *applause* 208 00:24:50,149 --> 00:24:55,150 Herald: Small note on the end. He said earlier that he brought the prototype. 209 00:24:55,150 --> 00:24:59,039 *Sélim confirms* Herald: I think you're able and willing to 210 00:24:59,039 --> 00:25:02,840 show. Sélim: Yes. If people want to test it to 211 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:06,600 have a prototype with me so outside maybe, yes. 212 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:12,090 Herald: Perfect. In this case I think you meet each other outside, in front of the 213 00:25:12,090 --> 00:25:20,210 room. If you have questions there are two microphones. Please ask your questions and 214 00:25:20,210 --> 00:25:27,830 please speak out loud into the microphone directly. Number two please. 215 00:25:27,830 --> 00:25:32,409 F1: Ok, thank you for our talk. I know from Brazil but I think this is valid for 216 00:25:32,409 --> 00:25:36,970 the other locations too, that they are actually discussions that ceremonies like 217 00:25:36,970 --> 00:25:41,820 this which are sacred should not be easily accessible to outsiders and especially 218 00:25:41,820 --> 00:25:45,460 Europeans who come there usually as a tourist and see that as like cheap 219 00:25:45,460 --> 00:25:50,890 attraction and then they go and go back to the resort or something. So how would you 220 00:25:50,890 --> 00:25:54,890 situate your project in those discussion or did you take part in them? 221 00:25:54,890 --> 00:25:59,090 Sélim: Okay. Thank you for this question. Actually it took me one and a half 222 00:25:59,090 --> 00:26:07,289 year to find the right person and to work it out to get into a Candomblé session, 223 00:26:07,289 --> 00:26:12,210 exactly they didn't want to reduce it to cheap entertainment which is not the case. 224 00:26:12,210 --> 00:26:17,190 First of all, they were saying to me: "What you come from Europe, you want to just to 225 00:26:17,190 --> 00:26:24,140 reduce our spirituality into an entertainment." It took me a lot of time to 226 00:26:24,140 --> 00:26:30,720 really convince my local producer there which is part of the family of Candomblé. 227 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:35,620 That's not the case. I'm coming with a totally different concept. Of course we 228 00:26:35,620 --> 00:26:42,890 are, it's a kind of golden gate you open for that and they're not like used to 229 00:26:42,890 --> 00:26:48,850 let everybody to those ceremonies and those rituals, especially in Brazil where 230 00:26:48,850 --> 00:26:54,809 the socio-economic pressure and situation is really special. It's really harsh. So 231 00:26:54,809 --> 00:27:00,060 for them Candomblé is a kind of identity, it's us, you know, it's kind of: this is us 232 00:27:00,060 --> 00:27:05,720 and this is the other Brazil. So yes it took me a long time to convince the people 233 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:11,540 to establish trust and to really be there many times and to and to let them 234 00:27:11,540 --> 00:27:18,750 understand look, it is a project that aims to connect those diasporic heritage. You 235 00:27:18,750 --> 00:27:25,490 know I want to show this to maybe your brothers and sisters in India, in Morocco. 236 00:27:25,490 --> 00:27:35,070 And it's worked out, so somehow, VR, it's giving you as author also this question of 237 00:27:35,070 --> 00:27:46,190 ethics because you don't frame something, you put the user inside a set. So, for them 238 00:27:46,190 --> 00:27:51,909 it's a kind of secret. You know, I don't know, if some people of you have been in a 239 00:27:51,909 --> 00:27:56,580 Candomblé session. It is very powerful like when the drums starting and going up 240 00:27:56,580 --> 00:28:04,640 and up and up and up, it's fantastic I mean it's euphoria that goes up and for them it's a 241 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:09,220 way to be. It's a way to say, here we are. We don't forget, we are here, we 242 00:28:09,220 --> 00:28:14,371 celebrate, we cry, we love and we live here and we don't forget where we're 243 00:28:14,371 --> 00:28:20,190 coming from. So this magical gates that we are is up. Of course it keeps the whole 244 00:28:20,190 --> 00:28:31,400 kind of responsibility somehow. Herald: Thank you. Next question, nice. In 245 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,590 this case, I have the opportunity...Number two please. 246 00:28:33,590 --> 00:28:41,860 F2: Thank you for your talk. I would like to add a little bit to that 247 00:28:41,860 --> 00:28:45,100 Herald: Questions only please. F2: Ok. 248 00:28:45,100 --> 00:28:52,919 Herald: So what's the question? F2: The question is, well I can't do that, 249 00:28:52,919 --> 00:28:58,250 I need to add something because I think that some things are not presented right 250 00:28:58,250 --> 00:29:03,670 or just wrong. Candomblé it's not just anything but it is a direct connection to 251 00:29:03,670 --> 00:29:05,800 the .. Herald: Ok, in this case I will shift the 252 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,980 discussion back to the ... Can we have the next question please? 253 00:29:08,980 --> 00:29:12,659 F2: ...and this is shortened to something which cannot be shortened. 254 00:29:12,659 --> 00:29:18,510 Herald: Okay go ahead, sure. F2: ...and the Candomblé and Dojoba are 255 00:29:18,510 --> 00:29:22,700 directly connected and have a religious foundation. So this is just in addition 256 00:29:22,700 --> 00:29:28,510 about that and also there was something wrong in your talk. You said the people 257 00:29:28,510 --> 00:29:34,950 were deported to North America did not go through South America. But they also went 258 00:29:34,950 --> 00:29:39,670 directly there, they were transported directly there. So just those additions. I 259 00:29:39,670 --> 00:29:44,679 would love to discuss with you this further and not to ... also of course 260 00:29:44,679 --> 00:29:49,080 everybody can ask me after that because I don't want to monopolize this. 261 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,987 Sélim: Ok, thank you very much. Herald: Ok, next question please. Number two. 262 00:29:52,987 --> 00:29:57,700 F3: Ok, it's follow up question. If your 263 00:29:57,700 --> 00:30:05,730 only aim were to connect the communities, why, how does the free downloadable app 264 00:30:05,730 --> 00:30:11,789 into that so, could you maybe elaborate on the entertainment part a little bit more 265 00:30:11,789 --> 00:30:17,550 because I don't see that point will be treated by your answer. The other 266 00:30:17,550 --> 00:30:23,460 question: Is there any profit in your project? And if yes, who gets that profit. 267 00:30:23,460 --> 00:30:29,390 Sélim: Okay first of all, why an app, because basically I want to share it with 268 00:30:29,390 --> 00:30:36,460 people as simple as that. Profit, till now we don't have any profit. We produce a 269 00:30:36,460 --> 00:30:42,490 prototype after the prototype with a company based in Berlin which is in VR. So 270 00:30:42,490 --> 00:30:48,370 we got small money just to produce that and to make it in a good way and to 271 00:30:48,370 --> 00:30:54,809 explore VR, first of all, as as a storytelling tool. So there is no profit 272 00:30:54,809 --> 00:31:06,270 in that sense. This project is since two and a half year. We got some small grants 273 00:31:06,270 --> 00:31:14,390 from cultural institutions to make research but beyond that I mean the main 274 00:31:14,390 --> 00:31:19,460 purpose is not to make money out of this, basically. The main purpose is to 275 00:31:19,460 --> 00:31:27,850 distribute it, to shift somehow the conscience of people to present this issue 276 00:31:27,850 --> 00:31:36,461 in a totally different way but also to try to somehow engage the debate, you know, to 277 00:31:36,461 --> 00:31:44,529 unroot narratives which is in our conscience still there. We see blacks as 278 00:31:44,529 --> 00:31:50,649 you know slaves etc. We don't have it easy to really decode what happened, you 279 00:31:50,649 --> 00:31:54,810 know, in terms of culture, in terms of anthropology. So this project is an 280 00:31:54,810 --> 00:32:00,669 attempt to that, is a trigger. So that's why we're here, to discuss that. So till 281 00:32:00,669 --> 00:32:07,620 now we didn't really have a business plan for this project but I would be very happy 282 00:32:07,620 --> 00:32:13,520 that people can see it first of all. Thank you. 283 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:21,730 Herald: And number two again please. F4: Thank you, Sélim, for this talk. You 284 00:32:21,730 --> 00:32:28,799 started with VR as a tool for anthropology and then you refered to it again. Could 285 00:32:28,799 --> 00:32:33,970 you please elaborate a little bit more on this anthropology, how this plays a role 286 00:32:33,970 --> 00:32:45,270 in your project? I hope my question is clear enough to give you a point for 287 00:32:45,270 --> 00:32:52,770 starting. Sélim: Yeah. I think that was part in the 288 00:32:52,770 --> 00:32:59,520 answers in the presentation. VR is... I mean I don't pretend to be first of all an 289 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:06,340 expert on VR. Second of all, nobody can pretend to be an expert in VR. It's a very 290 00:33:06,340 --> 00:33:11,960 nascent new tool and everybody's like experimenting. Some works are good, some 291 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:17,240 works are consequent, some works are powerful but some work are total failures. 292 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:22,060 So let's be honest about that, so nobody can pretend to having the magical formula 293 00:33:22,060 --> 00:33:33,860 to do the best VR piece ever. But I think personally it's a tool that can really put us in 294 00:33:33,860 --> 00:33:39,940 a situation when we can really embrace the world in a totally different way. If you 295 00:33:39,940 --> 00:33:44,230 go back a little bit in the history and you see like the the cinema that had been 296 00:33:44,230 --> 00:33:50,050 produced in the early 60s or 70s by Jean Rou for example, in Africa, which is a 297 00:33:50,050 --> 00:33:57,059 very honest work he put in frame like the reality as it is from African living 298 00:33:57,059 --> 00:34:12,070 there. But I think that approach has been always through the technology approach. We had 299 00:34:12,070 --> 00:34:18,849 always built this pictures of Africa through other people's eyes and VR is 300 00:34:18,849 --> 00:34:26,820 totally the opposite of that. Is just you put a camera and you disappear. You have a 301 00:34:26,820 --> 00:34:32,700 360 degree, things happen, you observe, then you look at the footage you want to 302 00:34:32,700 --> 00:34:38,730 design it, or not, as your choice but basically the act of filming VR or 303 00:34:38,730 --> 00:34:45,459 capturing 360 content is very easy. It's very simple. It's just, you put the user 304 00:34:45,459 --> 00:34:49,789 in the centre of something. In that perspective I think it's very powerful 305 00:34:49,789 --> 00:34:55,440 anthropology tool because anthropology is based on observation, so as simple as 306 00:34:55,440 --> 00:35:01,020 that. Herald: Thank you. I think I have the 307 00:35:01,020 --> 00:35:09,749 honor of the last question, finally. You mentioned more modern art or more modern 308 00:35:09,749 --> 00:35:13,380 music project. What are your upcoming projects and what do you think is the 309 00:35:13,380 --> 00:35:22,890 technology like in 10 years for you, related to your upcoming projects? 310 00:35:22,890 --> 00:35:30,729 Sélim: I'm still stuck in this project and I think basically we are far from the end 311 00:35:30,729 --> 00:35:37,599 product or output but I'm very happy to see that people engaged with that. I just 312 00:35:37,599 --> 00:35:41,920 came from another meeting I told you from re:publica in Africa and I realized that 313 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:48,640 this project, I identified basically two audiences. First of all, you have the 314 00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:54,799 African audiences which for them just to be in a ceremony is enough. It's fantastic 315 00:35:54,799 --> 00:36:01,880 they freak out, It's exactly what they are looking for, in terms of memory and 316 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:07,559 displacement. It's very enough and you have the VR audience. People who would say 317 00:36:07,559 --> 00:36:12,219 ok what can I experience here? You know, I see people dancing around me, listening to 318 00:36:12,219 --> 00:36:17,039 music, cool, I can dance but what I'm expecting? We are working on this part we 319 00:36:17,039 --> 00:36:24,650 want to make feel the user how this music and this power of music can work on 320 00:36:24,650 --> 00:36:30,089 your conscience can work on your brain activity, can engage you physically and 321 00:36:30,089 --> 00:36:35,709 this is how we are working now with music and code. With coding music, we are 322 00:36:35,709 --> 00:36:39,529 analyzing the frequencies that are producing through the combination of high 323 00:36:39,529 --> 00:36:46,069 frequencies and low frequencies and that creates this space of trance. And of 324 00:36:46,069 --> 00:36:52,513 course you cannot push users directly into trance, some people don't want this. So yes, 325 00:36:52,513 --> 00:37:00,680 the next step will be to elaborate this interactive ceremony, so you can really go 326 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:05,969 deeper producing CGI the more the trance will go, the more you will see things 327 00:37:05,969 --> 00:37:11,349 happening. The more you visualize the memories, the more you will see, the 328 00:37:11,349 --> 00:37:21,200 belief, the spirits, whatever, and the more you will have this physical 329 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:25,559 experience of being in a ritual. So, this is a next step, basically. 330 00:37:25,559 --> 00:37:29,530 Herald: Thank you very much. Sélim: Thank you, thank you a lot. 331 00:37:29,530 --> 00:37:32,483 Herald: I want a round of applause for Sélim. 332 00:37:32,483 --> 00:37:38,259 *applause* 333 00:37:38,259 --> 00:37:43,059 *postroll music* 334 00:37:43,059 --> 00:38:02,000 Subtitles created by c3subtitles.de in the year 2020. Join, and help us!