Projects
Virtual Architecture of Empathy II – Love Moveth from the Peripherary to the Centre
Virtual Architecture of Empathy II – Love Moveth from the Peripherary to the Centre
What does it mean to return?
By reimagining what has been lost, ‘Love Moveth from the Peripherary to the Centre’ transforms grief into hope, inviting audiences to inhabit a reassembled dreamlike, “living, breathing” landscape shaped through collective storytelling.
Can fractured archives create a new wholeness?
We are developing and testing an immersive 360° virtual reality experience that acts as a poetic archive of memory and reunion. At the centre of the work is the Nightingale—an enduring symbol of longing and divine love in Persian mysticism and Bahá’í spirituality—who guides viewers through a layered landscape of archival fragments, stylised painting, performance, and Persian calligraphy drawn from sacred texts.
As participants follow the Nightingale, they move through remnants of ancestral homes, destroyed sacred sites, and fragments of letters and photographs, reassembled into a dreamlike, living environment.
Experiment
£20,000
Aims of the project
The experience explores personal histories of displacement while opening broader questions about return, belonging, and the rebuilding of memory through spiritual reunion. A 360° virtual reality cinematic-poetic journey guided by a Nightingale, symbol of longing in Persian mysticism, that leads audiences through fragmented archives of displacement, memory, and spiritual reunion.
By weaving together family photographs, found footage, painting, calligraphy, and performance, the work reimagines lost ancestral sites and asks whether new wholeness can emerge from fragments. This immersive installation invites collective reflection on migration, belonging, and transformation, creating a sensorial space of remembrance and hope.
During this experimental phase, we will present a prototype of the VR experience to a small group of participants, including members of Iranian-British communities alongside broader audiences. Through this testing, we aim to understand how viewers engage with the work on sensory, emotional, and narrative levels. We will explore how intuitive the journey through the virtual landscape feels, how participants respond to the themes of memory and migration, and how elements such as sound, presence, and spatial design contribute to the sense of intimacy and immersion.
Meet the artists
Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson
Lead artist
she/her
Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson (b. 1996, Perth) is an Iranian-Australian artist whose interdisciplinary practices explore memory, spirituality, and diaspora.
Based in the United Kingdom and Australia, she works across painting, film, and immersive media, investigating inherited histories, displacement, and the search for spiritual belonging.
Eshraghian-Haakansson creates poetic cinematic and cine-theatre works spanning film, VR, and immersive installation. Fostering dialogue across generations of diaspora, developing collaborative projects that centre community continuity.
Khashayar Salmanzadeh
Lead artist
Khashayar Salmanzadeh (b. 2001, Shiraz) is an Iranian-Australian artist whose interdisciplinary practices explore memory, spirituality, and diaspora.
Based in the United Kingdom and Australia, they work across painting, film, and immersive media, investigating inherited histories, displacement, and the search for spiritual belonging.
Salmanzadeh’s paintings merge Western portraiture with calligraphic traditions informed by Baháʼí writings, reflecting on the spiritual dimensions of the self.
Ashton Namdar
Sound Composer
Ashton Namdar is an Iranian-Australian composer and sound producer whose work spans film, theatre, installation, and electronic music. Performing as Yungbreadman, he blends classical training with experimental and electronic forms, creating bold, textural soundscapes. Through his solo and collaborative work, Ashton explores sound as a medium for memory, identity, and emotional resonance.
