Location:Oceanside Museum of Art (Oceanside, CA), USA
Inauguration:30 of April 2022
Closing Date:11th of September 2022

Click on one of the following 5 images for exploring the AR experience on your smartphone.

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From Iraq, asylum in Germany for 5 years
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From Guerrero Mexico, staying in Shelter in Tijuana Mexico
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From Gambia, asylum in Treviso, Italy
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From Peru, resettled in US, a US marine corps veteran
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From Mexico, resettled in US, a US army veteran

The concept of “safe space” has taken on new importance and meaning as the effects of a global pandemic have influenced the way we interact and keep our distance, both physically and virtually. Meanwhile, as Russia invades Ukraine, and as millions of refugees are fleeing the violence, we are again witnessing those seeking and breaking the safe spaces. This exhibition explores what that concept means to individuals, especially those impacted by the experiences of immigration, forced displacement, and active combat. From the fall of 2021 to spring of 2022, Tijuana-and Duesseldorf -based artist Shinpei Takeda guided a series of virtual-reality workshops with five selected participants across the globe who are immigrants and refugees as well as military veterans, as they shared stories about how their physical, social, and psychological spaces have been impacted by their experiences. Participants worked with the artist collaboratively to envision, design, and create an expression of their safe spaces within the virtual environment. In the resulting exhibition, visitors will experience a mixed-reality environment exploring the purpose of safe space, both in our society and in emerging virtual spaces, and the possibilities of virtual space as a tool for finding sanctuary. A physical installation, augmented reality and virtual reality will be used in this mixed reality exhibition. Additionally, videos from the workshops will present the process of workshop participants’ virtual safe space creations as well as the participants’ stories in their own words. This exhibition will open conversations about safe space in our emotional, social and virtual spaces.

Project of:Oceanside Museum of Art
Technical partner:Hochschule Düsseldorf, University of Applied Science, VS/VR lab, Jens Herder, Jewgeni Birkhoff, Tobias Schlüter
Sponsor:Gravity Sketch (licenses for the vr collaboration software Gravity Sketch, including cloud service Landingpad)
Community partner:Integrarte (Treviso, Italy), Borderclick/Josemar Gonzalez (Tijuana, Mexico), Borderline Crisis Center (Tijuana, Mexico), Vetarts (San Diego, California)