UPCOMING FESTIVAL:
Concept Note
What is our embodied experience of reality?
The further we move into the digital age, the more we seek to immerse ourselves. From the static experience of reading a webpage to now tricking our minds with augmented reality, we are full of science fiction visions of fully customizable simulated realities in which we live out our dreams and fantasies. The COVID-19 pandemic created a need to explore more practical virtual realities for work and socializing, while the success of NFT avatars and virtual real estate generated financial interest among companies in the field. Many companies, including Meta/Facebook, announced plans for the development of their own metaverses; fully-formed digital universes in which people live, work, and interact, entirely from their own spaces.
The technology required for a fully functional metaverse has not yet been developed, but it already raises fascinating questions about existence, identity, and reality – not the least of which is how we, as embodied beings, will integrate into a world that largely requires only our minds. This gives rise to questions such as:
- What will it mean to embody the metaverse?
- How might our further immersion into virtual realities affect our physical selves, and how might our physical reality shift or respond to more virtual environments?
- Will this development prompt further integration between physical and virtual realities, or will they remain parallel worlds?
- How do we as embodied beings with physical needs and awareness adjust to a non-physical existence? What is a healthy balance of physical and digital interaction?
- How will some of the issues of embodied prejudice such as racism or body shaming manifest or evolve in the metaverse?
- Where do we draw a boundary between a physical and a digital presence?
- Should we embrace the metaverse or not?
There are multiple implications for the contradictions and opportunities that occur at the meeting point of metaverse bodies. For example, the ability to change our bodies through customizable avatars leads to many new questions. This particular feature could create more inclusive spaces wherein people from minority groups can ‘blend in’ or even offer people with disabilities the opportunity to interact in society in a way they are unable to or barred from in physical reality. But on the same token, it might further entrench hierarchies and majority rule, increasing cyberbullying and ableism.
This concept also calls into question how our physical bodies will be shaped by digital reality, and vice versa. It touches on notions of isolation and the lack of physical touch that many experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and postulates if digital interaction can ever be as meaningful as physical interaction, even in an immersive virtual environment. It leads to interesting notions of materiality, how digital creations might manifest in physical reality, and what infrastructure might be created to support a more digital existence.
For our second edition of Lahore Digital Arts Festival in 2023, we invite artists to explore this idea of “Metaverse Bodies.” From the creation of avatars and its implications for minority/majority power dynamics to isolation and the loss of physical touch and interaction, we are curating an array of cutting-edge digital works that explore the embodied experience of the metaverse from new and interesting perspectives. We especially encourage artists to consider the theme in the context of four subthemes: climate change, gender, privacy, and heritage. Artists might consider the legal, ethical, commercial, philosophical, and existential implications of the metaverse, as well as the aesthetics and opportunities provided by an immersive digital reality. All digital mediums are acceptable. Submissions that offer innovative and complex ideas are preferred. Lahore Digital Arts Festival aims to curate high-quality, provocative art for display in a digital medium in keeping with the theme and this new reality. We hope to educate and inspire Pakistani audiences to think about art and art exhibitions/festivals in a new way, and to put Pakistan on the map of digital arts festivals.
METAVERSE BODIES Showcase 2023
The second showcase of the Lahore Digital Arts Festival under the banner of METAVERSE BODIES featured 61 artists from 12 countries. The festival took place from the 12th of October to the 15th of October 2023 took place at Aangun, Numaish Ghar, NCA Lahore, Haam Gallery, Lahore Museum, The Colony, BNU, IAC, and Daftarkhwan.
Participating Artists and Collectives: Abdul Hadi, Abdur Rehman, Adnan Mirza, Affan Mir, Agha Ali, Agnes Michalczyk, Aisha Bashir, Aleena Akbar, Alzbeta Jungrova, Anton Sahler, Anusha Khalid, Areesha Khuwaja, Asjad Faraz, Ayesha Mubarack Ali, Christa Sommerer, Daniyal Alam, Fatiha Hamid, Fazaiel Shah, Hafsa Ashfaq, Hamza Baig, Hamza Majeed Khan, Hamza Mir, Haris Hidayat Ullah, Hira Asim, Huma Gul, Irfan Mahmood, Iza Ahmad, Justine Emard, Kashif Rafique, Laurent Mignonneau, M4HK, Maaz Ahmad, Mahnoor Ali Shah, Marwah Waqar, Mazhar Hussain, Muhammad Atique, Naima Muzzafar, Nivetha Balasubramaniam, Omair Faizullah, Omar Gilani, Poday Wali, RAbeeha Adnan, Rahema Zaheer, Rida Amjad, Rinoshan, Saaed Ghani, Sarjeel Ahmed, Shajia Fatima, Shuja Ul Haq, Sofia Hardt, Somana Riaz, Stefano Fake, Touqeer Hilbi, Ujala Khan, Umair Abbasi, Umer Javed, Yuman Sadiq, Zafar Iqbal, Zahra Hussain, Zainab Hussain, Zakira Noor Hussain.
Co-curated by: Najam-Ul Assar and Sarah Rajper
Last Updated On 19 August 2026