Beyond Presence: AI, Mixed Reality, and Epistemic Injustice

As the relentless heat wave continues to bake the streets of Zurich, we invite you to escape the glare of the city and step into a space where the air is heavy with a different kind of intensity. In the cool, quiet halls of the Kulturhaus Obere Stube, a layered world unfolds in which grief is not only felt, but also questioned as experience: as a possible form of knowledge whose recognition cannot be taken for granted. «The Shroud 2026» is not merely a technical showcase; it is a haunting, immersive encounter with Seraina’s fate — a mother’s loss seen through a fractured state in which grief is already distorted by silence, self-doubt, displacement, and the pressure of a world unable to meet it on its own terms.
This experience is brought to life through the multi-disciplinary artistry of Alexander Vögeli, a media artist whose work seamlessly spans the physical and digital realms. Serving as the project's architect, Vögeli’s vision encompasses everything from the initial research and concept to the art direction, technical programming, and dramaturgy. Through the delicate interplay of a physical book and a digital veil, you enter a space in which Seraina’s loss is mediated through silence, self-doubt, displacement, and distortion.The atmosphere of this world is further textured by the sound design of Jan Meier, while the voices of Francesca Ruch, Jan Meier, Leon Zahler, and Maya Lewandowski breathe life into the narrative, making the presence of Seraina and the AI mourning companion feel both intimate and unsettling. Additional technical assistance was provided by iffn and Melvin Sprenkels. Together, these contributions craft a space where grief becomes a point of departure for questioning how we, and our technologies, respond to loss, mourning, and experiences that seem to resist easy understanding.

Join us in Stein am Rhein from July 6th to July 12th to explore this intersection of mixed reality, literature, mourning, and technology. Let’s leave the burning sun behind and enter a world shaped by loss, mourning, technology, recognition, silence, and the fragile conditions of understanding.