Bitte aktualisieren Sie Ihren Browser zur korrekten Anzeige dieser Webseite.

Kusunda

«Kusunda» is a voice-driven Virtual Reality narrative about the dormant Kusunda language in Nepal. Co-created by shaman Lil Bahadur and his granddaughter Hima, the intergenerational story invites you to support the revitalization of their mother tongue.

Every two weeks a language falls asleep. Most languages at threat belong to indigenous communities such as Kusunda in Nepal. The Kusunda language has been categorised by linguists as a language isolate, meaning it’s unrelated to any other language family of the world. Due to their nomadic way of life, the Kusunda call themselves «Kings of the Forest». Currently, there are only about 150 people in Nepal who identify as Kusunda.

Lil Bahadur lost his mother tongue when he gave up his hunter-gatherer lifestyle to settle in the village. «When my parents died I had no one left to speak my mother tongue with. Slowly the language started fading away. I started speaking another Nepali language with people in the village. That’s how it happened,» he says with a sense of resignation.

Lil’s granddaughter Hima, a bright teenager detached from her grandfather’s hunter-gatherer identity, represents a modern Kusunda identity and is taking on the challenge to revive her mother tongue. «I haven’t lived in the forests and I don’t want to! I’m studying hard to become a teacher. But I am proud of my heritage and culture. I’ll do whatever I can to preserve it and I’m confident of being successful.»

After having won the Storyscapes Award of the immersive competition at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York, the VR experience «Kusunda» continued its festival journey. The documentary experience about a dormant language in Nepal was part of the Best Of selection at the 78th Venice International Film Festival and the DocuLab VR selection at the International Documentary Film Festival IDFA in Amsterdam, 17th – 28th November 2021. Gayatri Parameswaran worked on her documentary experience as Filmmaker in Residence partly in the Immersive Arts Space at the ZHdK in 2020, where she created 3D animations using motion capture technology.

Artist:
Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke

Year:
2021

Cooperation partner:
Immersive Arts Space
Zurich University of the Arts

Type:
VR

Website:
nowheremedia.net

«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.
«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.
«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.
«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.
«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.
«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.
«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.
«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.
«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.
«Kusunda» by Gayatri Parameswaran & Felix Gaedtke.