On Friday 22 May 2026, IFAS Audiovisual Project Manager Lauren Fletcher participated in a panel discussion during RMB Latitudes Art Fair exploring the future of immersive storytelling and archive-based creative practice in Africa.
Titled The Water Remembers: Building an African Immersive Ecosystem That Lasts, the discussion brought together practitioners working across immersive media, archives and performance. Alongside Lauren, speakers included poet and artist Xabiso Vili and gaming professional Kieran Reid, both participants in the Futures_Past project, as well as Fak’ugesi festival director Alby Michaels and creative industries expert Erika Denis.
The conversation reflected on how immersive technologies can engage with memory, oral histories and archival materials while contributing to the development of sustainable creative ecosystems on the continent. Xabiso Vili presented insights from the We Are What Remains project developed with the !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre, while Kieran Reid discussed Acts of Care, created in collaboration with the GALA Queer Archive.
Presented by Fakâugesi, Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct and the Austrian Cultural Forum Pretoria, the panel formed part of wider conversations at Latitudes around contemporary African artistic practice and innovation.
Futures_Past: Amplifying Memory with Immersive Technologies is a collaborative initiative organised by the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) in partnership with Electric South, supported by the Embassy of France in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi, and funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
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