“The Walled Off Hotel VR Experience” will offer a virtual trip to The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, established and curated by internationally famed British street artist Banksy. The experience, d…
, gives the user the possibility of moving freely within the space of the hotel and the neighboring Israeli-Palestinian wall, making an important contemporary artwork more accessible. The boutique hotel was opened in March 2017 and displays artworks as well as offering rooms to paying guests as a fully functioning hotel. As well as offering a unique opportunity to visit the hotel, the VR experience will also include stories from the region and interactions.
“I remember well when Israel started the construction of the wall,” Shomali says. “With each concrete slab, my hometown, Bethlehem, was being choked some more. I was thrilled and honored to see some of my works of art exhibited at The Walled Off Hotel. Since then I have become a regular visitor. The hotel itself is not a political site but whether you’re inside or outside the hotel – you are always besieged by the wall.
Users will be guided through their experience by Ka – a punk rock singing parrot – trapped in the hotel ever since his bandmates accidentally took his passport with them when they left. Told in six chapters, Ka will seek to accomplish his escape via some magical graffiti spray that can penetrate the wall. In the process, he’ll also serve as guide and historian to the hotel and the wall. He quotes Banksy: “Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it.
Rosenthal sees the move by the fund to be a very promising sign for the future of VR in the region and the region’s role in potentially developing VR technologies and content. “It’s wonderful to see that the Red Sea Fund has invested in their first project and that it is a MENA project,” she said.
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