Astra VR
Date & Location
2021, Sibiu
Client
ASTRA Village Museum
ASTRA VR is a museum experiment that uses VR technology, sound installations and comics to make the heritage of traditional culture more accessible. The stake that the ASTRA museum in Sibiu assumed was to innovate the ways of museum expression and to get closer to a new generation of visitors. For the two households (from Sebeș and Rășinari), 7 old household objects / installations were selected – especially objects related to food preparation, but now obsolete. These objects would hardly be known today, and their name, as sonorous as it is difficult to associate with their function.
For example: blidar, salt shaker, lint, grain peel, wax mash, cane, crusher, press, are names that remain indistinguishable for a young urban audience.
For these 14 objects, several stories were created to help visitors understand how they were used at the beginning of the last century, what the atmosphere of a household was like at that time and how relevant all these objects were in the lucrative context of that time.
The stories were delivered on three distinct levels:
a. a comic strip that gives information about the functions of some of these objects or about the habits and processes associated with them.
b. A sound installation, in the form of a fictional documentary in which three characters dialogue, or tell some scenes from everyday life, in which the mentioned objects also appear.
c. 3d animations, which introduce the visitor to the world of the village’s love stories, the much more complex relationships of the rural communities.
Curator and exhibition coordinator: Mirela Iancu
Conservation-restoration coordinators: Andrea Bernath, Iulia Teodorescu
Conservator – restorers: Marius Iuga, Gabriel Ciolan
Ancuța Ilie, Camelia Repede, Adrian Stoia, Valentin Delcă
Exhibition program coordinator: Lucian Robu
Responsible for conducting workshops: Mihaela Gherghel
Art concept and design: Zeppelin Design
Creative Direction: Cosmina Goagea, Constantin Goagea
Exhibition design: Cristina Ginara, Andrei Angelescu
Graphic Design: Radu Manelici, Cristina Ginara, Alexandru Voicu
Illustration: Alexandru Voicu
Ethnographic documentation editing: Simona Constantin, Cristina Ginara, Alexandra Bușilă
Museum expert: Dragoș Neamu
Audio Script and Direction: Alexandru Berceanu
Unreal Engine development and production: Tudor Gheorghe, Collider Visuals
3D models, 3D characters: Andrei Drîmbă, Alin Sîrbu, Silviu Popescu
Sound design: Mihai Gheorghiu
Voices: Romeo Cornelius, Isabela Neamțu, Ioan Ionescu, Vlad Bârzan, Ivona Berceanu, Sașa Berceanu, Vlad Benescu, Răzvan Mandruță, Valentina Zaharia
Songs: Romeo Cornelius
3D scanning: Giga Pixel
Script: Simona Constantin
Direction: Ilinca Stihi
Voice Actors: Cosmina Dobrotă (Ana), Voicu Hetel (Toma), Ivona Berceanu (Măriuca), Brândușa Mircea (Pria), Ciprian Cojenel (Achim), Sașa Berceanu (Bucura)
Sound Design: Tom Brânduș
Programming: Ioan Cernei
Translation: Andreea Chindriș
Exhibition system production: Fabricate
Lights: Almalux
Fitting: Concret Multiform
Photo: Silviu Popa