Whispers of the Sacred Grotto
Partner Programme
Artist Statement
For the past three years, Hanbing Wang has investigated the digital restoration and public presentation of the Kizil Caves. Her practice combines archival and site research, spatial storytelling, real-time media, XR, and multisensory interface design to move heritage interpretation beyond visual reconstruction. She builds repeatable methods through which movement, sound, scent, temperature, and collective participation become forms of historical inquiry.
Work Statement
Whispers of the Sacred Grotto is a nine-minute, shared multisensory installation inspired by Cave 38 at the Kizil Caves in Xinjiang, China. It reinterprets a central-pillar cave not as an image to be viewed, but as a space activated by ritual movement. Visitors follow a clockwise path through a five-sided CAVE projection while XR overlays semi-material monks, golden footsteps, and particle murals. A custom neck-worn interface, NeckScents, releases short pulses of warm air, benzoin, and lotus scent at narrative thresholds.
Rather than isolating each participant inside a headset, the wearer's first-person view is returned to the room. Headset users and surrounding visitors therefore become performers and witnesses within one shared event. When enough participants independently reach a compatible walking rhythm, the environment shifts collectively: particles rise, sound intensifies, and multisensory cues converge. Built in Unity and TouchDesigner, the installation transforms digital restoration into embodied remembrance. Its aim is not photorealistic reconstruction, but a careful reactivation of atmosphere, movement, and cultural meaning.
This project was supported by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Key Research and Development Program (Project No. 2022B03035-3).
Whispers of the Sacred Grotto was presented in Mind × Body: Catalyst Phenomenon Archive, organised by the Reality Intelligence Association as part of London Design Festival 2026.
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