Date of Award
5-10-2026
Date Published
June 2026
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Film and Media Arts
Advisor(s)
Rebecca Xu
Keywords
Cultural Memory;Cultural Preservation;Experiential Heritage;Immersive Environments;Spatial Perception;Virtual Reality (VR)
Subject Categories
Arts and Humanities | Fine Arts
Abstract
ABSTRACT This thesis repositions cultural preservation as an experiential and interpretive practice rather than a purely documentary one. Centered on selected Mughal-era monuments of the Walled City of Lahore—structures increasingly affected by environmental decay and urban transformation—it investigates how the sensory and atmospheric dimensions of heritage can persist beyond material deterioration. Rather than reconstructing these sites through strict architectural fidelity, the project proposes The Fluid Archive, an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment that prioritizes embodied experience, spatial perception, and memory-driven reconstruction. Acknowledging that history is a constructed narration of the past, the project engages digital technologies as active agents in shaping how heritage is reinterpreted in the present. Through processes of remediation, physical sites are translated into digital environments that expand access while introducing critical tensions between recontextualization and decontextualization. This project addresses that tension by translating heritage into a technological framework while maintaining its cultural and spatial integrity. Within the VR environment, users engage with reconstructed spaces through direct physical interaction. Scattered artifacts function as tactile interfaces, allowing users to pick up, examine, and interpret fragments of cultural history through movement and proximity, while informational easel boards provide structured contextual grounding. This interaction model shifts the user from passive observation to active participation, establishing a balance between immersive exploration and intellectual clarity. The experience is further translated into an animated sequence derived from real-time VR interaction, using dynamic camera movement to communicate spatial navigation, interaction, and educational intent beyond the headset. Together, these elements position the archive as an interactive system where meaning is constructed through engagement rather than observation. The project extends into a hybrid, multi-modal installation that incorporates projection mapping, 3D-printed elements, and Augmented Reality (AR) interactions. Physical models—including a 3D-printed flying rickshaw—are suspended within the exhibition space, creating a tangible counterpart to the virtual environment. Through QR code–based interaction, users can activate AR overlays on mobile devices, allowing these speculative vehicles to reappear as animated, spatially anchored forms within the gallery. These layers transform the archive into a distributed system in which digital, physical, and augmented environments coexist. Grounded in theories of presence, perception, and digital mediation, this thesis argues that meaningful preservation lies not in replicating the past, but in reactivating it—demonstrating how immersive technologies can sustain cultural memory while critically engaging with the processes through which history is reconstructed, accessed, and experienced.
Access
Open Access
Recommended Citation
Bashir, Umar, "“THE FLUID ARCHIVE” INNOVATING THE PAST, PROTECTING THE FUTURE (VIRTUAL REALITY AND CULTURAL PRESERVATION)" (2026). Theses - ALL. 1043.
https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/1043
