A project two years in the making will have its premiere Sunday at Guild Hall. First Literature Project, developed by two of the cultural center’s Community Artists-in-Residence, Wunetu Wequai Tarrant and Christian Scheider, features the first virtual-reality media to be produced in the Shinnecock language.
FTP was founded to support indigenous peoples in their efforts to maintain and further their languages, narratives, and oral traditions, making them available to their tribal communities and surrounding areas. Utilizing the newly released Apple Vision Pro headset, the technology recreates an important tradition: sitting face-to-face with a storyteller.
“A wealth of knowledge is left out when the only accounts of indigenous cultures available are written by outside anthropologists and authors,” says Ms. Tarrant. “The FLP’s method will bring our stories into the 21st century, using our voices, our faces, and sharing our perspectives.”
The exhibition utilizes the VR headset to present the story “Padawe,” originally written in English by Elizabeth Chee Chee Thunderbird Haile, now newly translated and narrated in the Shinnecock language by Ms. Tarrant, Chee Chee Haile’s granddaughter.
The exhibition also features video works by members of the Shinnecock language revitalization collective; Ayim Kutoowonk, Kaysha Haile, Ahanu Valdez, and Cholena Smith-Boyd, and interviews with members of the Shinnecock Nation through a collaboration with the Padoquohan Medicine Lodge.
Admission is free. Timed entry is required to experience FLP’s virtual reality work. For the duration of the run, Fridays to Mondays, limited space will be available every half hour from noon to 4. Advance reservations have been recommended.
There will be an artist talk next Thursday at 6 p.m. with Mr. Scheider, Ms. Tarrant, and Peter Fisher, co-founder of Khora Virtual Reality, which collaborated with the artists to develop the VR presentation.
The exhibition will continue through July 15.
