Vcuarts Qatar Presents New Exhibition In Austria

Doha, Qatar: Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) has announced its participation in the Ars Electronica Festival 2025, which will be held in Linz, Austria, from September 3 to 7.

VCUarts Qatar will present Ghūl, a thoughtful and immersive exhibition that examines the systems we live within - from the technological to the economic and ecological - and how they shape our world.

Inspired by the ghūl, a shapeshifting and mischievous creature of Arabian folklore, Ghūl uses this figure as a lens to explore how constructed systems influence, ensnare, and haunt us. The exhibition invites audiences to consider how these systems reflect our values and transform our daily realities.

“In Ghūl we use folklore as a portal to examine modern systems as active forces in our lives,” said Dr. Diane Derr, Associate Dean for Research and Development at VCUarts Qatar,“This exhibition engages critical issues in a manner that is poetic, playful, and deeply reflective.”

Derr added that this year, the Richmond campus of VCUarts is collaborating on several works, with Peter Baldes, Sirena Pearl, ShanMu Sun, and Stephen Vitiello, contributing from the home campus. Ghūl brings together a diverse set of works developed by faculty, students, alumni, and collaborators across the VCUarts Qatar and Richmond campuses.

The exhibition features a range of innovative and experimental works that explore intersections of technology, identity, memory, and sustainability. Self-Reflexive Worlds: Ideal Home by ShanMu Sun is an XR narrative merging immigrant memory, generative AI, and immersive storytelling to navigate belonging and displacement, while Self-Reflexive Worlds: Text Textures by Sirena Pearl presents a real-time installation where player movements are rendered as dynamic ASCII streams, confronting themes of digital identity and self-surveillance.

Roto-Riso, created by first-year VCUarts Qatar students, draws inspiration from Duchamp's Rotoreliefs and Op Art to create a kinetic installation combining motion, printmaking, and interaction through RISO-printed spinning discs.

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