Ali Eslami – Virtual Reality Artist
Amsterdam
Ali Eslami is a Virtual Reality Artist from Iran who has been active and experimenting with VR since 2014. Ali’s work carves new pathways into this emerging medium by developing interactive experiences, driving his practice-led research. The experiences manifest as realities that blur fictional and non-fictional narratives, which strive to articulate possible futures. Ali compliments his process with speculative design and world-building and is ever questioning the restraints of physical space, time and bodies. Besides content production, Ali is active in running VR lectures and workshops.
In 2016, his VR project won the IDFA DocLab Award for “Best Immersive non-fiction”. he won the Gouden Kalf (Dutch Film Festival) for his project “Nerd_Funk” in 2020.
Side activities include Co-curator at STRP Festival, Program advisor at IDFA Doclab.
Degrees
2010-2014 Bachelor of Civil Engineering – Zanjan National University (Zanjan, Iran)
Artist in Residence
2021-23 Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (Amsterdam, NL)
2020 Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Guest resident (Amsterdam. NL)
2018-19 3Package Deal, Amsterdam fonds voor de kunst (Amsterdam. NL)
2016 Age of Wonderland, Baltan Laboratories (Eindhoven, NL)
Work Experience
2012-Present Freelance VR Artist & Practitioner
2009-2012 Senior 3D Artist – Savice Interior Architecture Co.
Selected Exhibitions
ECLIPSE
2021 TETEM – VR Installation (Enschede, NL)
2020 IDFA Doclab – Live performance (Amsterdam, NL)
Nerd_Funk (Supported by Nederlands Film Fonds)
2020 Impossible-bodies Festival (Den Bosch, NL) | Nederlands Film Festival [Golden Calf Nominee] (Utrecht, NL)
Geneva International Film Festival (Geneva, SW)
CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, DK) | Ambulante Film Festival (Mexico)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Open Doclab R&D Program
2019 VR Installation, IDFA Doclab (Commissioned by NL Film Fonds) (Amsterdam, NL)
Big Air with Go (Nike Commission)
2019 VR Installation, Melt Festival (Leipzig, GE)
Sacred Hill (Supported by Stimulering Fonds, Amsterdam Fonds Voor de Kunst, Mondrian Fonds)
2021 Geneva International Film Festival (Geneva, SW)
2020 Meta Marathon (Dusseldorf, GE)
2019 Neuhaus Artistic Research, The New Institute (Rotterdam, NL) | Nederlands Film Festival, Interactive Expo (Utrecht, NL)
Museumnacht Amsterdam (Amsterdam, NL)
False Mirror VR
2019 The Overkill Festival (Enschede, NL) | Getxophoto Festival (Bilbao, SP)
A Maze Festival (Berlin, GE) | Ambulante Film Festival (Mexico)
Diversion Cinema Showcase in Galerie Cinema (Paris, FR)
2018 IDFA Doclab Spotlight (Amsterdam, NL)
DeathTolls Experience
2019 Nexus Gallery (Melbourne, Aus) | Ambulante Film Festival (Mexico)
2018 Published online at Oculus Store | War on Screen Festival (Paris, France)
2017 Published online at Steam and Viveport | Global Health Film Festival (London, UK)
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (Montreal, CA) | Bergen Film Festival (Bergen, Norway)
Sheffdoc Fest South American Tour | Paris Virtual Film Festival (Paris. FR)
Sheffield DocFest (Sheffield, UK) | Kaleidoscope VR Showcase Vol 2
SXSW Virtual Cinema (Austin, USA)
2016 IDFA Festival (Amsterdam, NL) | Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven, NL)
Snow VR
2018 WoW Masquerade 24H West (Amsterdam, NL)
2017 IndieCade Showcase at E3 Expo (Los Angeles, USA)
2016 Todaysart Festival (The Hague, NL) | Mutek VR Salon (Montreal, CA)
Activities
2021 Program Advisor and Co-curator at STRP Festival
Program Advisor at IDFA Festival
2020 Program Advisor and Co-curator at STRP Festival
Program Advisor at IDFA Festival
2019 Jury member of goEast Film Festival VR Competition
Program Advisor at IDFA Festival
2018 Jury member of IDFA Doclab’s Competition for Immersive non-fiction
Founder member of Plurality University (U+)
CPH:Lab participant
IDFA’s Cross-Media Forum Participant
2013 Temp-Illusion Live AudioVisual Performance at TADAEX Festival (Tehran, Iran)
Selected Talks / Conferences / Workshops
2020 We Are Public Livestream, False Mirror VR Lecture (online)
Meta Marathon, False Mirror VR Lecture (Dusseldorf, GE)
Johns Hopkins University, False Mirror VR Lecture (New York, US)
MoMA Museum of Modern Art, False Mirror video showcase (New York, US)
The University of Denver, False Mirror VR Lecture (Denver, US)
2019 Eindhoven Film Festival, False Mirror VR Lecture (Eindhoven, NL)
Unpackaging 3Package Deal, False Mirror VR Lecture (Amsterdam, NL)
GetxoPhoto Festival, False Mirror VR Lecture (Bilbao, ES)
Mutek Montreal, False Mirror VR Lecture (Montreal, CA)
Virtual Embodiment VR Lecture, Sensorium Festival (Bratislava, SL)
Live lecture from VR, A Maze Festival (Berlin, GE)
Salwa Foundation, VR Workshop (Amsterdam, NL)
The Hmm. Presentation (Amsterdam, NL)
‘Behind the Net’ Workshop, Artez University (Arnhem, NL)
Panel speaker, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah Film Platform (Sharjah, UAE)
2018 Speculative Design VR Workshop, University of Applied Sciences, Master of Digital Design (Amsterdam, NL)
False Mirror VR Presentation, IDFA Doclab (Amsterdam, NL)
2017 VR workshop, Tumo center for creative technologies, (Yerevan, Armenia)
Why Virtual Reality?! Roundtable, Forum Des Images (Paris, FR)
VR Symposium, Royal College of Arts (London, UK)
Join The Resistance Panel, Sheffield DocFest (Sheffield, UK)
VR Production Workflow Workshop, Tehran ACM Siggraph (Tehran, Iran)
2016 VR Masterclass (3 Days), Artez University (Arnhem, NL)
Interactive Conference Talk, IDFA Doclab (Amsterdam, NL)
Advanced VR Development and Design, Workshop at Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven, NL)
VR as new Medium, Workshop at Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven, NL)
Introduction to VR, STRP Scene (Eindhoven, NL)
VPRO Medialab’s Meet the Makers, (The Hague, NL)
2014 Expanded Reality Presentation, Re-Shape Tehran (Tehran, Iran)
Nominations
Nederlands Film Festival Golden Calf and Director’s Forum Award 2020
IDFA Festival competition for Immersive-nonfiction 2016 & 2019
Dutch Design Awards – Data and Interaction 2021
One World Media Award Longlist 2018
Lumen Prize Shortlist 2017
SXSW Virtual Cinema 2017
Sheffield DocFest 2017
Kantar’s Information is Beautiful Awards 2015