The virtual reality experience CARNE y ARENA (Virtually present, Physically invisible), developed by Academy Award-winning writer and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, will be brought to Dallas by the Nasher Sculpture Center in January.
According to the artist’s website, the twenty-minute VR experience “explores the human condition of immigrants and refugees” in a single immersive experience.
“During the making of this project, I had the privilege of meeting and interviewing many Mexican and Central American immigrants and refugees,” Iñárritu said. “I invited some of them to participate in this project so that their personal journeys would not be just a statistic for the rest of us, but would instead be seen, felt, heard, and experienced by others. Their life stories haunted me. In spite of their difficult pasts and current situations, their spirits are still armed with hope, defying the uncertain futures that await them.”
The event will take place at Fair Park’s Food & Fiber Pavilion from January 21 to April 18, 2022.
CARNE y ARENA uses cutting-edge virtual technology to create a massive, multi-narrative light space populated by human figures.
Iñárritu reunited with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki on the project after working together on the Oscar-winning Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance.
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 as the first VR experience ever chosen as part of the festival’s Official Selection. Iñárritu received a special Oscar one year later for the installation “in appreciation of an innovative and compelling experience in narrative,” according to the Academy.
The Nasher Sculpture Center, located in the Dallas Arts District, houses a collection of modern and contemporary sculptures by artists such as Matisse, Basquiat, Picasso, and others.
The center intends to be “an international focal point and catalyst for the study, installation, observation, and enjoyment of modern and contemporary sculpture,” according to the museum’s website.
CARNE y ARENA will be open to the public with reservations, although seating is limited. Tickets are now on sale at nashersculpturecenter.org, with prices ranging from $35 to $55.