The Media Majlis at Northwestern University in Qatar has launched its seventh exhibition and Qatars first major presentation exploring the concept of the metaverse, MetaWhat, at a community preview event hosted at the museum exhibition hall at Northwestern Qatars campus in Education City.
The exhibition, which will be open throughout fall 2023, explores the pitfalls and opportunities of an ever-changing digital media landscape while challenging structures imposed by the West and offering a view of this new technology from the perspectives of the Global South. At the preview event, faculty, students, and staff from Northwestern Qatar, as well as members of Qatar Foundations partner universities, contributors, local lenders, and local and international artists, celebrated the exhibition as it opened its doors to visitors.
"As a university museum with distinctive capacities, The Media Majlis at Northwestern Qatar is best suited to explore the concept of the metaverse with its ambitions and audacity and explain the emerging virtual world and how it is transforming our lives," said dean and CEO of Northwestern Qatar Marwan M. Kraidy.
"As we become enmeshed in ever more immersive digital spaces and cultures, and as platforms multiply and concepts proliferate, we need a guide that cuts through the chatter and offers new ways of grasping and imagining the mergers of social reality and virtual world. Our fall 2023 exhibition does exactly that," he added.
Jack Thomas Taylor, who is interim director of The Media Majlis and curator of the exhibition, said the wide success of the opening of the exhibition reflects the growing interest in the topic of the metaverse. "No one truly understands what the metaverse is or its potential, but everyone is fascinated by this new technology and what it might mean for our future," said Thomas Taylor.
"Our fall 2023 exhibition dives deep into what it all means and could mean while putting a mirror up to our past and reflecting on the present," he added.
