Project participants filled the Kenyan airwaves during their initial secondment, with local media providing extensive coverage of events related to the exploration of culture production in augmented and virtual reality. Among those making news were presenters from CAPHE’s symposium themed on New Coordinate for Hybrid Space-Experiences, allied performers and musicians, and researchers from partner institutions.
With the help of Kenyatta University institutional lead Prof. John Mugubi, the CAPHE communications team secured extensive coverage from KUTV. The University’s television station live-streamed the Symposium and related events to its nationwide audience.
A living laboratory for students in broadcast journalism, the station devoted segments of its Morning Rise programme to CAPHE musicians and performers. This included segments of Orpheus, Lwanda and the Khthónios Journey, a case-study performace composed by the University’s Elijah Adongo and choreographed by Priscilla Gitonga.
Conceived by the Opera Network Firenze’s Carla Zanin and co-conducted by Federico Bardazzi from Conservatorio Puccini La Spezia, the production combined the Italian traditions with mythology from Kenya’s Luo tribe in a tech-enabled performance that featured tenor Leonardo di Lisi and musicians Alessandra Montali, Andrea Bareggi and Andrea Nicoli.
The station also conducted extensive interviews with CAPHE researchers as part of a programme dedicated to Cutting Edge Research. Those interviewed included CAPHE Jakub Petri and colleague Michal Ostrowicki from Jagiellonian University.
Aliki Iovita and Natasha Papathoma, researchers from Narratologies, played a key role in conceiving the visual identity of the show. Collaborating with students from Kenyatta University’s School of Creative Arts, Film and Media Studies, they brought their creative vision to life through stunning visual projections. Additionally, Christos Lougiakis from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens was the mastermind behind the integrated VR experience in the Opera show. The contributions of the researchers from Greece, ensured a captivating and immersive visual experience for the audience, enhancing the audio and dance elements. Meanwhile, Jose Manuel Reyes from FBAUL Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa in Portugal featured on Morning Rise.
KBC, the national broadcaster, devoted airtime to CAPHE, interviewing Symposium Keynote speaker E. Mutuma Marangu about his sculpture collection and examining the impact of virtual reality on Kenyan life with FBAUL’s Helena Elias and Aleksandra Lukaszewicz of the Polish Society for Aesthetics on its Business Check programme.