Belarus Free Theatre want people in London to give virtual hugs to refugees in Calais.
Belarus Free theatre is working with the Belarusian creators of the Tesla suit (www.teslasuit.com). Using tactile technology, the Tesla Suit can create full immersion virtual reality to simulate body contact with another person without any direct physical interaction.
Belarus Free Theatre want people in London to give virtual hugs to refugees in Calais. BFT Co founding Artistic Director Natalia Kaliada explains, "As you know, BFT are interested in the role of the contemporary artist in the geo-political landscape, so for us “the hug” is both an artistic act as well as a political act. It turns virtual reality on its head, to highlight how virtual reality can connect us more closely to reality and to one another, rather than just enabling our desire to escape reality."
For the first time virtual reality (VR) was used not for gaming or any commercial purposes but VR was to serve an idea of humanity overcoming physical borders and giving back a human dignity to people who are in need.
The team of Belarus Free Theatre including its founding Co-Artistic Directors Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin together with Masha Alekhina from Pussy Riot visited Calais to support an enormous and vitally needed work of Good Chance Calais Theatre that is run by two British playwrights Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy.
For more information
Tesla Suit: teslasuit.com
Belarus Free Theatre belarusfreetheatre.com
Good Chance Calais twitter.com/goodchancecal