Digital layers are rewriting who belongs in our public squares
In short: Augmented reality is evolving into a powerful instrument for social justice and advocacy. By placing digital stories over physical locations, activists can highlight marginalized voices and reclaim history. This technology allows communities to tell their own narratives in public spaces without needing to physically modify permanent monuments or city infrastructure.
Glenn Cantave and Idris Brewster lead Movers & Shakers NYC, a nonprofit dedicated to using augmented reality (AR) as a vehicle for advocacy. Their work focuses on highlighting underrepresented narratives in diverse settings, including classrooms, cultural institutions, and public spaces. By utilizing AR, they can create immersive visual projects that allow marginalized communities to tell their own stories through creative arts and technology. The organization employs a mix of virtual reality and creative arts to execute advocacy campaigns. They specifically target the narratives of oppressed groups through these immersive visual projects.
One of their primary initiatives is The Monuments Project. This project serves as a digital catalog featuring AR monuments dedicated to women, people of color, and the LGBTQIA+ community. It provides a way to acknowledge these groups in spaces where they have historically been excluded or erased. Another initiative, UNSUNG, functions as a multiplayer AR experience that highlights four specific female singers of color who utilized their voices to advocate for social change. This educational product is designed as a multiplayer experience for users. It focuses on specific historical figures who fought for social progress.
Cantave’s approach combines performance art with social entrepreneurship. His advocacy for equitable representation in public spaces dates back to 2017 and has included high-profile actions like running the NYC Marathon in Chains and a fast during Black History Month 2020. These projects aim to create a more equitable blueprint for cities by using technology to bridge the gap between historical neglect and modern visibility. Cantave also organized an AR exhibit that simulated a slave auction pop-up. His work seeks to establish a more equitable blueprint for the city of New York.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: How augmented reality is changing activism | Glenn Cantave
- Also: Glenn Cantave & Idris Brewster | Movers & Shakers - MIT Open Documentary Lab
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