Transdisciplinary DMU

FROM KAMPALA TO LEICESTER

Exodus

Martin Rieser - Institute of Creative
Technologies at De Montfort University

Audio Trail and Installations
14th August – 30th September

Sean Clark programmer testing Trail

Wall trail in Phoenix Cafe

Interactive Video multi-scree

This digital commission in one of a series of events and activities across Leicester that marksthe 40th anniversary of the expulsion ofUgandan Asians and their subsequent move to Leicester.

In August 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin gave the Asian community 90 days notice to
leave the country. They were forced to leavealmost everything in Uganda and seek refuge in other countries such as Britain and Canada. The digital commission consists of a trail linking New Walk Museum and Art Gallery and Phoenix, a video installation in the Phoenix café multiscreen and a large wall graphic showing the trail and providing access to QR codes, located in the Phoenix café.

Trail
New Walk Museum & Art Gallery
to Phoenix

Using personal testimony from Leicester’s Ugandan Asian community, the trail revisits the
dramatic events in 1972 and shares memories about arrival in the UK and settling in Leicester ithe 1970s, while celebrating the community’s continued cultural and economic impact on the City.

The trail follows a route from New Walk Museum & Art Gallery to Phoenix, with QR codes located on posters in shops and windows along the route. Scanning the QR codes triggers the audio commentary telling the story of the exodus. Onarrival at Phoenix, visitors can interact with the video installation and wall graphic in the café area.

To follow the trail, iPhone users should download an app from Empedia, via www.empedia.info. You can then follow the trail, scanning the QR codes located along the walk (or on the map on the reverse) to release audio information. The map on the reverse can be used as a route guide. Android phone users can follow the trail without downloading the app, provided they have a QR  code reader downloaded on their phone. For iPhone users, information on the trail can also be triggered by GPS position if this facility is
active on your phone. By using this trail, you willbe downloading data to your phone, and your network provider may charge for this.

Installation

Phoenix Cafebar

When you arrive at Phoenix, the video installation on the café multiscreen allows you to edit your own journey through videos created specially for this commission.

The videos celebrate the current exhibition at New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, using film footage of journeys across narrative textile surfaces. The textiles were created by community groups and professional artists, with lead artist Ashok Mistry, for the ‘from Kampala to Leicester’ exhibition at New Walk Museum & Art Gallery.

This video installation is a unique development using iPhone or iPad tones to control the nine video windows. You can visit reception to borrowearphones and iPads to participate - just plug into the wall fitting and edit your own journey through the videos.

The large wall graphic allows you to follow the audio trail in the comfort of Phoenix’s café. Scan the QR codes to trigger the audio commentary using iPads, iPhones or android phones.

See the website for event details, including the digital commission and screenings at Phoenix Square and a range of activities at New Walk

Please be aware that some of the testimonies in
the trail contain information that some people may
find upsetting