Are you an immersive media artist or creative technologist based in Africa? Do you have a concept or project that utilises real-time 3D (RT3D) or Extended Reality (XR) technology in a creative and impactful way?
Electric South invites emerging as well as accomplished African XR creators to apply for a new XR Social Impact Grant.
The aim of the grant is to give African creators access to skills, expertise, tools and networks to create a prototype or proof of concept using RT3D/XR technology, or to help finish an already existing project.
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XR Social Impact Grants
| Application Deadline | 31 Aug 2022 |
| Type | Entrepreneurs |
| Sponsor | Medium |
| Gender | Men and Women |
Aim and Benefits of XR Social Impact Grants
Seven extended reality projects (augmented or virtual reality) will be selected to receive $5,000 USD each in grant funds to develop their proof of concepts, or to complete projects already in progress. Artists will retain full ownership of all work that is produced.
In addition, creators will participate in a few group sessions with experts, and will receive one-on-one technical support from specialists and advisors. All sessions will take place online in October and November, 2022.
Requirements for XR Social Impact Grants Qualification
Applicants must:
- Be citizens of an African country and based in Africa for the majority of the time (at least 6 months/year). We welcome participants from across the African continent, and encourage applicants from identities that have been historically under supported or underrepresented within the fields of art and technology to apply, including those who are disabled, women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and others.
- Either well versed in a game engine (Unity or Unreal etc.) or technically proficient in similar real-time content creation, 3D modelling or animation software (for example Blender, Maya or Autodesk 3DS Max).
Projects must:
- Utilise RT3D/XR technology in a meaningful and impactful way.
- Be narrative or non-fiction, but all projects must be impact driven with measurable impact goals, calls to action and/or encompass themes of freedom of expression, social, healthcare, education, humanitarian, or environmental issues.
- Examples of previous Electric South work with an impact lens include (please note that these examples are to demonstrate impact and not VR format as most of them are 360 films):
Container, which had its premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival in 2021 and went on to form part of the Nobel Week Dialogue 2021 and show at Tribeca Festival in 2022. Container makes visible the ‘invisibilized’ bodies enabling our consumer society. Confronting slavery through the metaphor of the shipping container, used to transport millions of tons of cargo each year, the past becomes present and the invisible is made visible as co-directors Meghna Singh and Simon Wood shed light on the circulation of commodities, and people, trapped in modern-day slavery.
The Subterranean Imprint Archive, co-created between 2019 lab participants Francois Knoetze and Amy Louise Wilson with researcher Joe-Yves Salankang Sa-Ngol unfolds as a speculative, meditative sandbox experience examining the history of uranium mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to make atomic bombs, critically engaging Africa’s externally imposed role in the historical event of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Le Lac, which won best digital narrative at Sheffield Doc/fest in 2019, is a dreamscape where liquid gives way to dust. The oasis of the Sahel, Lake Chad, is not who she used to be. Ninety percent of her water is gone, leaving her feeling depleted, wary, scared and insecure. Climate change has made the millions of people who depend on her vulnerable, and induced the threat of Boko Haram insurgency. In this immersive documentary,step into the lives of Mahamat, a once-wealthy pastoralist, and Nassuri, a refugee-turned-fisherman, as the lake herself hopes for their survival amidst her scattered ponds.
Azibuye — The Occupation is a stereo 360 documentary about Masello and Evan, two homeless black artists/activists who take up residence in a crumbling mansion, vacant for 20 years, in an affluent part of Johannesburg. They proclaim their illegal occupation to be an artistic and political act to address the ongoing racial inequalities in land ownership in South Africa. When it is revealed who the owner of the house is, the pair have a difficult decision to make.
Interview date, Process and Venue for XR Social Impact Grants
The online programme will run from 1 October — 25 November, 2022. Final prototypes or projects will be due by 25 November, 2022.
Application Deadline
August 31, 2022How to Apply
Interested and qualified? Go to Medium on docs.google.com to applyFor morre details, visit Medium website.
