Mirage
Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands2025animatedVR@KFF
'Mirage' is an interactive Virtual Reality experience of a young girl who is battling depression and anxiety. Set in a desert landscape, it is a metaphorical and stylized adaptation with visuals created by the artist Naima Karim and her lived experience with her daughter’s depression and anxiety. The audience embarks on an immersive journey through the young girl’s mind, using hand-tracking interactivity, spatial sound design, original music, and a haptic vest. With hand-tracking interaction, they will be encouraged to support her through her challenges. However, accepting struggles and accepting help from others is not easy for a person suffering from depression and anxiety. Mirage sheds light on the often misunderstood realities of depression and anxiety, inspiring empathy and understanding. With this interactive virtual reality experience, Naima wants to spark a conversation, helping parents and others recognize the signs and encourage people to offer help and support to those struggling with depression and anxiety.
- directed by
- Naima Karim
Naima Karim is a visual artist from Bangladesh and the Netherlands. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from Dhaka University, Bangladesh. She is a painter of the sky. Her inspirations are mostly the sky, but the natural and social impacts in our lives also inspire her. In 1999, she was completely paralysed from a neurological disorder. Since then, she has celebrated movement by painting with long, sweeping brushstrokes. Her paintings have been exhibited in international exhibitions. Besides traditional art practice, she also created visuals for her two virtual reality films using 3D VR tools.
Aleena HanifAleena Hanif is a recent graduate of Global Sustainability Science at Utrecht University. Although she studied sustainability, art has been an essential part of her life. At home, she was raised to appreciate and celebrate art, music, and film. Originally from Bangladesh, she grew up in the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and Wales, an experience that shaped her understanding of the world. As she begins her career, she aims to combine her interests in sustainability and art. She believes that art has the power to reach people emotionally and, therefore, make complex issues, such as sustainability, more accessible to them.
- script
- Aroosha Hanif
- music
- Kuba Williams
- Photo
