Virtual reality human rights exhibit comes to E.O. Smith and UConn

Students at E.O. Smith High School had the opportunity to experience a virtual reality exhibition commemorating the Yazidi genocide in Iraq on Wednesday, Feb. 5. 

The exhibition, which is titled “Nobody’s Listening,” includes a 12-minute virtual reality experience in which students can explore scenes of devastation and hear testimonies of the violence ISIS perpetrated against the Yazidi people in Iraq. The creators of the exhibition gathered all the footage and testimonies themselves in 2019. 

Ryan D’Souza is a human rights advocate who founded the exhibition, which opens at the Dodd Center for Human Rights today. D’Souza said he used the virtual reality medium because it inspired more empathy than long reports that were difficult to read or relate to. 

“We wanted to try doing something different, so it was more of a passion project that I wanted to try because I felt that the other forms of advocacy weren’t working,” said D’Souza. 

D’Souza also said he hoped the experience would inspire action against current and future violence as well. According to D’Souza, the exhibit has been very well-received, especially in Iraq, where there was a “keenness to do more to help the Yazidi community” among the country’s leadership and public. 

Students in E.O. Smith’s genocide elective were able to experience the virtual reality before speaking with a survivor of the Yazidi Genocide.  

One student, Michael Lowery, said there was a sense of “sadness and awe” at being able to explore such an interesting place that saw so much destruction. Dilara Akarca, another student, said she had never experienced virtual reality like this before. 

“I feel like when you’re watching a film or when you’re reading about something, there’s kind of this distance between you and the situation or the people, because it’s not something you can easily imagine,” said Akarca. “In this VR thing, it seems a lot more real because you’re actually kind of in it, and I think that was really cool.” 

Thikran Mato, a survivor of the Yazidi genocide who spent two years held in captivity by ISIS, joined the class through Zoom to speak to the students about his experience and answer questions. He emphasized that students like them were essential to identifying and preventing future atrocities. 

“Education is the key to stop the violence in this world,” said Mato to the students. 

In response to a question about what students could do to help survivors and prevent further violence, Mato said “what [they] are doing right now” by paying attention makes a big difference. 

“I think it is a very big support for us to see our story and listen to us,” said Mato. 

D’Souza said that the lack of action and awareness around the Yazidi genocide increases the risk that future genocides will be ignored. 

“If we are unable to help a community affected by such an awful, horrific group that was so blatant in their atrocities, then it makes it more difficult to help other victims of genocide elsewhere today,” said D’Souza. 

Dijon Dajee is an artist and curator who helped collect testimonies and curated the art that accompanies the virtual reality experience. He said all the people he spoke to had “incredibly powerful stories.” 

“I interviewed someone who was a refugee who tried to escape on a migrant boat and had to do that about four or five times just to get across the sea from Syria into Greece then into Germany,” said Dajee. “Just to get to the basic standard of living.” 

Dajee also said that the medium allowed survivors to share their story and get “to the next stage of the conversation” without being retraumatized. D’Souza also emphasized the way virtual reality could tell stories while survivors could focus on advocating for a better future. 

“Quite importantly, that also means the survivor doesn’t have to retell their story and be retraumatized,” said D’Souza. “Everything is contained in the VR. They can then talk about their situation today and what needs to happen, and I think that combination works really well.” 

Joe Goldman, who teaches the genocide elective at E.O. Smith, said although students may “expect this class to be a very depressing class, it’s also ironically very inspiring” and students often receive the message Mato emphasized about their voices mattering. 

“Young people, the people who are learning about this today, they’re responsible for making sure that the hate we see around us on a regular basis doesn’t manifest into something as terrible as what Thikran experienced,” said Goldman. “By taking this class, students are better prepared to identify that hate and respond to it in a constructive and powerful way, and students tend to walk away from the class feeling inspired and feeling responsible for that sort of work.” 

The exhibition at the Dodd Center includes an art installation, which is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays with no reservation, as well as the virtual reality experience, which requires visitors to book a time before they go. 

Goldman said that the exhibit is an “incredibly powerful opportunity to experience something meaningful.” He explained that skepticism is a common reaction to genocides throughout history, so virtual reality could help make the events feel more genuine. 

“It just seems too surreal, and it’s so detached from the reality most of us live in our daily lives,” said Goldman. “The things we tend to complain about are so minor compared to what we heard Thikran talk about. So one of the things I’m hoping is that VR technology and the exhibit that they’re putting up help bring awareness to people in a way that the methods we’ve used in the past to teach this sort of thing haven’t achieved yet.”