From our friends at Shared_Studios...
Step into a Portal and Transport Yourself Around the World from the Woodrow Wilson Plaza at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (RRB/ITC)
Portals: A Global Public Art Project will launch from the RRB/ITC’s Woodrow Wilson Plaza
Shared_Studios launched a one-of-a-kind Portal on the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center’s (RRB/ITC) Woodrow Wilson Plaza connecting people in Washington, D.C. to three locations around the world - Tehran, Iran; Herat, Afghanistan; and Havana, Cuba. The Portal will be open through June 21st. Individuals can step into a shipping container-sized Portal and engage in a 20-minute conversation with someone inside a similar Portal abroad. Participants will be able to speak face-to-face, life-size and with real-time translation. All visitors are asked to consider the following prompt: What would make today a good day for you?
“This type of innovative and creative portal to another culture is representative of what we do at the RRB/ITC every day: connecting cultures and people in D.C. and globally,” said John P. Drew, President and CEO of Trade Center Management Associates (TCMA), the group that manages the RRB/ITC. “Shared_Studios has made it possible to have a conversation with a person thousands of miles away who we may never have met in any other way.”
A DC Portal to the World offers a chance for people in D.C. to engage in conversations about everyday life in a private, intimate setting. When you step into the portal, you become immersed in cutting-edge audio-visual technology that makes it feel as if you have left the Wilson Plaza and have been transported abroad.
“The technology behind the Portals is unique and groundbreaking,” added Mr. Drew. “This type of installation on the Wilson Plaza aligns directly with the work of the international trade center for building connections and fostering diplomacy between nations.”
The Portal will be open from June 5th to June 21st, seven days a week for five hours per day. Reservations to the portal are required for the 20-minute interaction and can be made at www.SharedStudios.com/Washington.
More information on the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center can be found here.
About TCMA:
Trade Center Management Associates (TCMA) is the private sector building management and hospitality service provider, operating in a unique relationship with the U.S. General Services Administration, owner of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. TCMA’s mission is to be recognized in both the public domain and private marketplace as being the best in all three areas of its business offerings: five-star hospitality and the premier DC location to stage conferences and special events, highest quality building management operation, and America’s premier address for international trade services.
About the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center:
The International Trade Center (ITC) is a preeminent forum in the heart of the nation’s capital advancing international commerce and cross-cultural dialogue. As a seamless, unifying framework, the ITC provides a platform for building connections, fostering diplomacy, growing businesses and creating a more prosperous U.S. and global economy.
About Shared_Studios:
Shared_Studios is a multidisciplinary arts, design and technology collective focused on carving wormholes in the world. They ground the connective potential of new technology in physical spaces to create more accessible, secure, and meaningful encounters between diverse populations. Shared_Studios was created by artist Amar C. Bakshi.
