Mixed reality performance "Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain” premieres at UT Library

On November 14, acclaimed artists Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen will premiere their mixed reality performance, “Held in Human: Rose in Your Brain”, at the University of Tartu Library. The immersive experience is designed for individual viewing, lasts 15 minutes, and will be in English.

According to the creators, the performance is a shared mental space where linguistic thinking meets instinctive physicality. "It's a physical reading experience, a choreography of thoughts that can be experienced through mixed reality glasses, using one’s own body," they explained.

In line with the concept, the authors wanted the piece to be in a public, pass-through space, which is why it will take place in the library’s lobby rather than a traditional theater. "The library is a perfect place for a performance that looks inside the mind," noted Liis Vares, one of the creators.

The piece offers a novel format: viewers enter a text- and imagination-based performance—a digital layer—using transparent virtual reality glasses. Physical and virtual spaces merge into a reality perceived through all senses, with the audience becoming the main character. "We use the latest technology to broaden the reach of performance art to a more diverse and expansive audience," explained the creators.

Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen continue to explore the nature of presence in today’s digital world. They ask how people remain present in a time when virtual spaces connect us globally and rarely allow for solitude. The creators focus on the relationship between visible and invisible spaces, the perception of different realities, and the balance between physical and mental realms. The performance incorporates excerpts from Ene Mihkelson’s texts, creating a Godot-like state that invites interpretation.

Their work in mixed reality (MR) builds on prior projects that blend physical and virtual spaces, from streaming theater (Kõik Loeb/the reader, Hundid) to hybrid-space projects (Memento, Where Are You?, Space Anthropologies I and II). Held Within I was performed in the autumn of 2023 at the EKA Gallery and online, evolving through ideas contributed by physical and virtual audiences.

The European premiere of the performance took place on October 26-27, 2024, at the Performing Arts & Digitalität (PAD) festival in Wiesbaden, Germany, where it was well received.

“Held in Human: Rose in Your Brain” will be performed at UT Library on November 14 from 12:00 to 19:00 and from November 15 to 28, Monday through Friday from 11:00 to 20:00, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 to 18:00. A new performance will begin every half hour. Tickets, priced at €7, are available in Fienta at https://fienta.com/s/oietera.