As part of the CAPHE project’s ongoing exploration of hybrid artistic environments within Work Package 1 – Art: art creation, reception, and art market, the initiative “Hybrid BIO_GEO-GRAPHIES of Jacob Barua” demonstrates how contemporary art, memory practices, and immersive technologies can jointly contribute to new forms of transcultural dialogue and participation.
Photo by Sanaa Pulse
Developed within the CAPHE research framework over a two-year research period, the Virtual Film Memorial brings together film, virtual reality, and reflections on identity in order to create an immersive, interactive artistic experience connecting Poland and Africa through shared histories and personal narratives.
Photo by Sanaa Pulse
Curated by Prof. Aleksandra Łukaszewicz, with VR production by Jacek Nagłowski and in collaboration with Prof. Karina Banaszkiewicz-Sadowska from the Polish Society for Aesthetics (PTE), the project presents a selective virtual archive of the works of Polish–Kenyan filmmaker Jacob Barua. His films — including “Shades of Poland” (1999), “Forgotten Places” (1993), and “My Daddy Was a Cavalryman” (2006) — form a poetic map of belonging that moves between continents, languages, memories, and identities.
The project was presented through a film retrospective at Kenyatta University (4 December 2025) and the opening of the VR exhibition “Virtual Film Memorial: Hybrid BIO_GEO-GRAPHIES” at the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi (10 December 2025). The implementation of these activities was supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Nairobi.
Photo by Sanaa Pulse
The full project is currently presented and accessible via the KONKRET AR.T Gallery, founded by Dr. Bogna J. Gladden-Obidzińska and further developed during the CAPHE project as one of its sustainable results. The platform hosts virtual exhibitions realised within CAPHE, in the preparation of which the Polish Society for Aesthetics (PTE) was actively involved. These exhibitions remain available in open access, ensuring continued public engagement with research-based artistic outputs beyond the project’s duration.
Photo by Sanaa Pulse
By translating audiovisual heritage into a digitally navigable environment, the project exemplifies CAPHE’s methodological approach to integrating artistic production with XR technologies. It further demonstrates how immersive platforms can activate memory and identity as shared cultural resources, fostering dialogue across generations and geographical boundaries.
Photo by Sanaa Pulse
Photo by Sanaa Pulse