Bio
Ali Eslami
(b.1991)
is an Iranian-Dutch artist based in Amsterdam. His work deals with long-term,
practice-based research that builds and grows through speculative thinking and
world-building.His work engages and plays with temporal and spatial investigations of memory, computation, human cognition, and emotions. Often informed by non-Western philosophical frameworks, such as Suhrawardi's Illuminationism.
This line of inquiry results in forms of poetic engineering that seek the potential lying between the real and the unreal.
His engineering background and passion for video games nurtured an obsession with cybernetics and computation and continue to build his curiosity towards the shifting roles of form and function that create virtual worlds. He works across various mediums, including Film, Interactive Simulation, VR, writing, installation, and performance lectures.
Eslami is an alumnus of the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (2021–23). His work has received awards including the IDFA DocLab Award for Best Immersive Non-fiction (2016), the Golden Calf for Best Interactive (2020, with Mamali Shafahi), the Cremer Prize from LWL-Museum Münster (2023) and Wendy-Gutman Prize (2025).
Education
2021-23 Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, NL2020 Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Guest resident, Amsterdam, NL
2010-14 Bachelor of Civil Engineering, Zanjan National University, Zanjan, Iran
Selected Exhibitions, Screenings and Performances
2026 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Exhibition, TecArt Festival, Rotterdam, NL — Group2026 “Live Coding Sessions: Narrative Spaces”, Audiovisual Performance, IDFA Het Documentaire Paviljoen, Amsterdam, NL
2025 “Emerging Exits”, Exhibition, Diogenes Bunker, Arnhem, NL — Group
2025 “Nerd_Funk: a 7-year odyssey”, Exhibition, MU Hybrid Artspace, Eindhoven, NL — Solo
2025 “Homā’s Phantom”, Exhibition, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, NL — Group
2024 “Cremer Prize 2024”, Video Installation, LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster, Germany — Solo
2024 “Homā’s Phantom”, Interactive Installation, Next-Level Festival, Dortmund, Germany — Group
2024 “Fog of War”, VR Exhibition, IDFA Het Documentaire Paviljoen, Amsterdam, NL — Curator
2024 “Play of Marbles”, Film Program, IDFA Het Documentaire Paviljoen, Amsterdam, NL — Curator
2024 “A Stretch of Time”, Screening, Wuhan Photography Art Center, Wuhan, China — Group
2024 “Line of Sight”, Screening, International Film Festival Rotterdam, NL
2023 “Homā’s Phantom”, Interactive Installation, REBOOT: Pioneering Digital Art, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, NL — Group
2023 “Line of Sight”, Video Installation, Prints, Publication, Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, NL — Solo
2023 “Line of Sight”, Screening, Sara’s Gallery, New York, USA — Group
2023 “False Mirror”, Screening, Art in the Age of Metaverse, De Balie, Amsterdam, NL — Group
2023 “Nerd_Funk”, VR Experience, LEV Festival, Madrid, Spain — Group
2023 “A Stretch of Time”, Screening and VR Experience, Inter Arts Center, Malmö, Sweden — Group
2022 “A Stretch of Time”, Video Installation and Sculpture, Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, NL — Solo
2022 “A Stretch of Time”, Screening, IDFA Festival Paradocs, Amsterdam, NL
2022 “Nerd_Funk”, VR Experience, Sonar Festival, Barcelona, Spain — Group
2022 “Nerd_Funk”, VR Experience, CTM Festival, Berlin, Germany — Group
2022 “Nerd_Funk”, VR Experience, Melkweg Expo, Amsterdam, NL — Group
2022 “False Mirror”, Screening, Sumac Space, Florence, Italy — Group
2022 “Recept”, Screening, Utrecht Down Under, Utrecht, NL — Group
2021 “False Mirror – Eclipse”, VR Installation, TETEM, Enschede, NL — Solo
2021 “False Mirror – Eclipse”, Screening, Dutch Design Awards Showcase, Eindhoven, NL — Group
2021 “Nerd_Funk”, VR Installation, Patty Morgan Gallery, Amsterdam, NL — Solo
2021 “Nerd_Funk”, VR Installation, Nederlands Film Festival, Utrecht, NL — Group
2021 “Sacred Hill”, VR Installation, Geneva International Film Festival, Switzerland — Group
2020 “False Mirror – Eclipse”, VR Performance, IDFA Doclab, Amsterdam, NL — Group
2020 “False Mirror”, Online VR Performance, We Are Public, Online
2020 “False Mirror”, Video Showcase, MoMA Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA — Group
2020 “Sacred Hill”, Video Essay, IMPAKT Festival, Utrecht, NL — Group
2020 “Sacred Hill”, Online VR Performance, Meta Marathon, Düsseldorf, Germany — Group
2020 “Nerd_Funk”, Online Exhibition, Impossible-bodies Festival, Den Bosch, NL — Group
2020 “Nerd_Funk”, Online Exhibition, CPH:Dox Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark — Group
2020 “Nerd_Funk”, VR Experience, Ambulante Film Festival, CDMX, Mexico — Group
2019 “Nerd_Funk”, VR Installation, IDFA Doclab, Amsterdam, NL — Group
2019 “Sacred Hill”, VR Installation, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, NL — Group
2019 “Sacred Hill”, VR Installation, Museumnacht Amsterdam, VondelCS, Amsterdam, NL — Group
2019 “Sacred Hill”, VR Installation, Nederlands Film Festival, Utrecht, NL — Group
2019 “False Mirror”, VR Experience, The Overkill Festival, Enschede, NL — Group
2019 “False Mirror”, VR Performance, Unpackaging 3Packagedeal, Amsterdam, NL — Group
2019 “False Mirror”, VR Performance, Mutek Montreal, Canada — Group
2019 “False Mirror”, VR Performance, Sensorium Festival, Bratislava, Slovakia — Group
2019 “False Mirror”, VR Experience and Performance, Getxophoto Festival, Bilbao, Spain — Group
2019 “False Mirror”, VR Experience and Performance, Amaze Festival, Berlin, Germany — Group
2019 “False Mirror”, VR Experience, Ambulante Film Festival, CDMX, Mexico — Group
2019 “False Mirror”, VR Experience, Galerie Cinema, Paris, France — Group
2019 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, Nexus Gallery, Melbourne, Australia — Group
2018 “False Mirror”, VR Experience, IDFA Doclab, Amsterdam, NL — Group
2018 “False Mirror”, VR Performance, Eindhoven Film Festival, NL — Group
2018 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, Ambulante Film Festival, CDMX, Mexico — Group
2018 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, War on Screen Festival, Paris, France — Group
2018 “Snow VR”, VR Experience, WoW Masquerade West, Amsterdam, NL — Group
2017 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, Global Health Film Festival, London, UK
2017 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Montreal, Canada
2017 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, Bergen Film Festival, Norway
2017 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, Paris Virtual Film Festival, France
2017 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, Sheffield DocFest, UK
2017 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, Kaleidoscope VR Showcase Vol 2
2017 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, SXSW Virtual Cinema, Austin, USA
2017 “Snow VR”, VR Experience, IndieCade Showcase at E3 Expo, Los Angeles, USA
2016 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, IDFA Festival, Amsterdam, NL
2016 “DeathTolls Experience”, VR Experience, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, NL
2016 “Snow VR”, VR Experience, Todaysart Festival, The Hague, NL — Group
2016 “Snow VR”, VR Experience, Mutek VR Salon, Montreal, Canada — Group
2013 Temp-Illusion, Audiovisual Performance, TADAEX Festival, Tehran, Iran
Awards and Prizes
2025 Wendy Gutman Award Inaugural prize, SEC Foundation NL2024 Cremer Prize Acquisition and presentation at LWL-Museum Münster, Cremer Collection
2020 Golden Calf Best Interactive “Nerd_Funk” with Mamali Shafahi
2016 IDFA Doclab Best Immersive Non-fiction “DeathTolls Experience”
Residencies, Grants and Commissions
2026 Residency MAKE Eindhoven, Mondriaan Fund, Eindhoven, NL2024 Residency Foreign Objekt, Deep Objekt research study group with Reza Negarestani
2023 Commission REBOOT exhibition, LI-MA and Het Nieuwe Instituut
2019 Grant Nederlands Film Fonds × IDFA Doclab — “Nerd_Funk”
2019 Grant Nederlands Film Fonds × IDFA Doclab — “Nerd_Funk”
2018 Residency CPH:Lab, Copenhagen, Denmark
Grant 3Package Deal, Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst
2016 Residency Age of Wonderland, Baltan Laboratories, Eindhoven, NL
Nominations
2021 Dutch Design Awards
2020 IFFR Director’s Forum Award
2020 Geneva International Film Festival
2019 IDFA Festival Competition: Immersive Nonfiction
2018 One World Media Award
2017 Sheffield DocFest
2017 SXSW Virtual Cinema
2017 Lumen Prize Shortlist
2016 Kantar’s Information is Beautiful Awards
Teaching
2025–26 Visiting Tutor, Design Academy Eindhoven, Masters Geodesign, Eindhoven, NL2024 Freelance Tutor, Sandberg Institute, Masters Design, Amsterdam, NL
2023 Mentor, FilmForward, Amsterdam, NL
2021 Artist Talk, Hogeschool van Amsterdam Multimedia Design, Amsterdam, NL
2021 Artist Talk, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria
2021 Artist Talk, Netherlands Film Academy Master of Film, Amsterdam, NL
2021 Virtual World-Building, MIT University Hacking XR, Boston, USA
2019 Behind the Net, Workshop, ArtEZ University Interaction Design, Arnhem, NL
2018 VR Speculative Design, Workshop, UVA Master Digital Design, Amsterdam, NL
2017 Intro to VR Development, Workshop, Tumo Center for Creative Technologies, Yerevan, Armenia
2016 VR Masterclass, Workshop, ArtEZ University, Arnhem, NL
2016 VR as a New Medium, Workshop, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, NL
2016 Introduction to VR, Workshop, STRP Festival, Eindhoven, NL
Curatorial and Advisory
2026–29 ADRIE Consortium Partner, Shared Realities Living Lab, with IDFA DocLab / POPKRAFT / MIT Open Doc Lab, NL
2025–26 Selection Committee, Rijksakademie New Director Position, Amsterdam, NL
2020–24 Program Advisor and Co-curator, STRP Festival, Eindhoven, NL
2019–22 Program Advisor, IDFA Doclab, Amsterdam, NL
Jury
2022 Netherlands Film Festival, Utrecht, NL
2019 goEast Film Festival VR Competition, Wiesbaden, Germany
2018 IDFA Doclab Competition for Immersive Non-fiction, Amsterdam, NL
2018 IDFA Cross-Media Forum, Amsterdam, NL
Selected Talks and Lectures
2026 Divine Time #1, Online Talk, Gnration, Braga, PT
2026 Understanding Microclimates by Will Scarlett, New Centre for Research and Practice, Guest Instructor, Online
2025 Immersive Arts UK, Speaker, Bradford, UK
2024 Sandberg Institute, Artist Talk, Amsterdam, NL
2024 Münster Lectures, Artist Talk, Kunstakademie Münster, Germany
2024 Artist Talk, LWL Museum Münster, Germany
2023 Agents in Play, Artist Talk, Inter Arts Center, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
2023 Telepresence Conference, Artist Talk, Kunstakademie Münster, Germany
2023 Art in the Age of Metaverse, Artist Talk and Panel, De Balie, Amsterdam, NL
2022 New Tech – Manufacturing the Truth?, Panel Discussion, IDFA Industry, Amsterdam, NL
2022 Artist Talk, St. Joost Academy of Art & Design, Breda, NL
2021 Virtual World-Building, MIT University Hacking XR, Boston, USA
2020 False Mirror VR, Online VR Lecture, Johns Hopkins University, New York, USA
2020 False Mirror VR, Online VR Lecture, The University of Denver, Denver, USA
2019 False Mirror VR, VR Lecture, Salwa Foundation, Amsterdam, NL
2019 Artist Talk, The Hmm, Amsterdam, NL
2019 Panel Discussion, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2017 Why Virtual Reality?!, Panel Discussion, Forum Des Images, Paris, France
2017 VR Symposium, Royal College of Arts, London, UK
2017 Join The Resistance, Panel Discussion, Sheffield DocFest, UK
2017 VR Production Workflows, Tehran ACM Siggraph, Tehran University, Iran
2016 Artist Talk, IDFA Doclab Interactive Conference, Amsterdam, NL
2016 VR Development and Design, Artist Talk, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, NL
2016 VPRO Medialab Meet the Makers, The Hague, NL
2014 Expanded Reality, Artist Talk, Re-Shape Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Publications and
Writings
2025 “Future’s Theory: Philosophies of the World to Come”, Contribution, ed. Jason Bahbak Mohaghegh, Bloomsbury Academic
2023 Line of Sight, Artist publication, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, NL
2022 “Notes on a Festival”, IDFA Official Publication, Amsterdam, NL