Zangezi is an ongoing artistic project developed by the Immersive Arts Space (artistic lead Chris Salter). The play has been presented and performed at various locations to date. Accordingly, the format and scope have changed and evolved.
Background
Zangezi is a Russian Cubo-Futurist poem/play written by the poet Velimir Khlebnikov 101 years ago in 1922. The story revolves around Zangezi, a prophet who speaks in the language ZAUM, a Russian word that is translated as “beyondsense.” Zangezi speaks with and can understand the birds, the gods, the stars and speaks in those languages as well as in poetic and also what K. called “ordinary” language. The Immersive Arts Space is working on this text because as a futurist work, Zangezi deals with is a fundamental human question which is increasingly becoming a problem for machines – what is the basis of language? Is language only about meaning based on syntax? Is it about predictable sequences? Rules and probabilities? Or is there something else going on that is universal and cosmic about language not as words and their meanings but as an act of sound?
Indeed, Khlebnikov, who had a mystical belief in the power of words, thought that the connections between sounds and meaning were lost during mankind’s history, and it was up to those in the future to rediscover them. 101 years later we ask how we might be able to approach Zangezi’s operations on multiple levels – cosmological, political, historical, technological – in a moment where we are increasingly surrounded by machines that produce something that appears like human language but in which there is no speaker, no body and no sound.
Zangezi – Performance
Under the artistic direction of Chris Salter (media artist and head of Immersive Arts Space), and in collaboration with the Immersive Arts Space (ZHdK) and an international team of artists from music, visual arts, performance, technology, and artificial intelligence, an immersive performance is being developed. The production combines spatial sound, lighting, music, graphics, and real-time AI-driven scenography generated with a game engine, alongside physical performance. A large-format LED wall serves as a central visual and lighting element. Digital landscapes, characters, and soundscapes are generated live and interact with the performers on stage. “Zangezi” addresses fundamental questions of the present: the relationship between humans and nature, the role of language, and war and conflict as driving forces of historical change. Following its premiere in Weimar, an international tour is in preparation.
World premiere will be at the Kunstfest Weimar 05. & 06.09.2025
Ticket are available [here]
Credits:
Chris Salter (Artistic direction)
Remco Schuurbiers (Artistic collaboration)
Sébastien Schiesser (Light)
Pascal Lund-Jensen (Sound)
Erik Adigard (Graphic design)
Timothy Thomasson (Virtual environments)
Gonçalo Guiomar (AI-Systems)
Ramona Mosse, Judith Rosmair (Dramaturgy)
Audrey Chen, Judith Rosmair (Performer)
Simon Lupfer (Technical coordination)
Miria Wurm (Production management)
Dietmar Lupfer (Producer)
With artistic contributions from Stefanie Egedy (BR), The Future of Dance Company (NG), Immersive Arts Space / ZHdK (CH), kyoka (JP), Raqs Media Collective (IN), Team Rolfes (USA), Pierre-Luc Senecal / Growlers Choir (QC/CA), Rully Shabara (ID), Stella Speziali (CH), Fernando Velasquez (BR)
A production by Muffatwerk Munich in co-production with Kunstfest Weimar, Immersive Arts Space / ZHdK Zurich, with support from XR Hub Bavaria.
Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Zangezi – A Film Installation
Zangezi was part of the Zurich Art Weekend in June 2025. For this event, the piece was further developed into a short film. It was shown on the state of the art LED wall in the Film Studio of ZHdK.
Zurich Art Weekend took place from 13th to 15th June.
Zangezi Experiments
Zangezi-Experiments, a multimedia stage play, was performed at the MESH Festival. Before, fragments of the piece were recreated as a work in progress for the REFRESH#5 2023 festival, that took the form of a theatrically staged reading within the technical machine of the Immersive Arts Space itself.
Credits:
Chris Salter (Direction, Sound Design)
Corinne Soland (performer)
Luana Volet (performer)
Antonia Meier (performer)
Stella Speziali (Development Meta Human)
Valentin Huber (Visual Design/Unreal Engine)
Pascal Lund-Jensen (Sound Design), formerly Eric Larrieux
Sébastien Schiesser (Light Design, show control)
Ania Nova (Russian voice over)