This practice-based PhD research explores how performance, enhanced by immersive creative technologies, can challenge dominant narratives of migration by centering migrant experience. Building on ‘hauntological dramaturgy’ and ‘migratory haunting’, the research aims to develop an artistic and theoretical framework termed 'ghostly dramaturgy'. This framework deploys the ghost as a metaphor for the often-invisible yet persistent presence of migrant experiences within western society. Dramaturgy here refers to the selection and combination of text, place and technology for creating performance. Moving beyond the ‘empathy machine’ view of immersive technology, the project uses immersive sound and VR to evoke haunting affects that critically engage audiences. Focusing on the nighttime lives of different communities in Brussels and Antwerp, the research asks: "How can immersive technological performance practices amplify migrant narratives to challenge exclusion and reframe contested spaces?" The project employs a Practice-as-Research (PaR) methodology to produce artistic interventions with immersive technology, framing these with theoretical perspectives drawn from performance philosophy, intermedial practice, and archival research. By bridging art, technology and society, the research contributes to broader discussions on rising anti-migrant discourse, offering alternative ways to represent and share migrant narratives.
Promoters: Prof Kurt Vanhoutte, Youniss Ahamad
Image: Tarık Şafak (Rare Sun 2024 KVS, Cast: Giulia Vitiello, Ozan Bingöl, Luisa Mar)
Updated: July 2025
