6m 45s: Lenght
96View
0Rating

GesturoDubai: A Mer-chan Souvenir offers tourists and locals alternative keepsakes of popular sights of Dubai. The GesturoDubai video teaches us to fully embody our experiences through gesturo-haptic translations. Images of well-known landmarks are juxtaposed with scripted movements that reinforce spatial memory. We translate Dubai Creeks bobbing boats and seagulls with a wave of our arms. We remember the Burj al-Arab with a puff of our chest and a pat on our bellies. Tourism is often an endeavor of passive consumption. Sites are seen, and pictures are captured. Tourists observe a city but are not participants. We would like to propose a solution. Our gestures translate a visit to Dubai into an embodied performance. The city is fantastical and overwhelming. Why should the memory of ones visit be anything less? Each gesture serves as a mnemonic device. They strengthen ones memory of a particular location or experience. When we string them together, the gestures unleash a string of memories: the story of explorations across Dubai. Why buy another bauble when you can dance your experiences?