‘In Damascus
the traveller sings in his heart:
I return from Syria
neither as living
nor as dead
but as a scudding cloud
that lightens the butterfly’s burden
upon my uprooted soul’
Syria is burning. Where once it was a refuge for the exile poet who composed the verse above, it is today at the tragic epicentre of ructions whose aftershocks rumble far beyond its borders. Reactions in contemporary digital media have taken varied forms, and might tell us something of the potentials and the pitfalls which lie before developers who feel a responsibility to use their art in the cause of humanity.
At the antipodes of taste and good judgement lie the responses of the Parisian Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) and of Russian indie developers Cats Who Play. The former has used the Steam platform to freely distribute a virtual reality art installation created by Ubisoft as part of the 2018 exhibition Cités Millénaires as Age-Old Cities VR. Donning their Vive, Oculus, or Index goggles, the ‘player’ finds themselves transported to life-size reproductions of Middle Eastern locations of exceptional cultural and archaeological significance. Two are in Syria: the ancient temple of Canaanite sky-god Baalshamin at Palmyra (Tadmur) and the endless warrens of Aleppo’s great souq. The former was vandalised by the so-called Islamic State in 2015, while the latter has suffered terribly from the depredations of the civil war. Meanwhile, the Russian indie RTS entitled Syrian Warfare advertises its ‘high degree of realism’ and features unlockable Achievements including ‘Instant Karma’, ‘Death Road’, and ‘Payback’.
“Donning their Vive, Oculus, or Index goggles, the ‘player’ finds themselves transported to life-size reproductions of Middle Eastern locations of exceptional cultural and archaeological significance.”
Both products wear their engagement on their sleeves. Both present themselves as informing the player about the real world, about real events and real places. About Syria. They do not simply take unreflective part in a political fantasy, as do the endless examples of unthinkingly Americentric, chauvinistic, and militaristic tropes in other games. They seek actively to change minds. To educate, to inform, and to influence for the better. They appeal to cosmopolitan virtues of solidarity and global citizenship. Consume us, they promise, and you can better understand Syria. Consume us, and make the world a better place. Whether this promise is credible or not, both experiences do share an aspiration to informing global consciousness.