#1786: Collective Reading Experience of “Constantinopoliad” Provokes Discussion on Defining “Immersive”

I interviewed Sister Sylvester about Constantinopoliad on Friday, September 12, 2025 at Venice Immersive in Venice, Italy.

Here is the story synopsis for Constantinopoliad:

"Constantinopoliad is a collective reading and audio work. A response to the archive of the poet Constantine Cavafy, the story is inspired by the blank and torn-out pages in Constantinopoliad, an Epic, the journal the teenage Cavafy began when he and his family fled Alexandria; by lost and missing queer archives through time; and by the ghosts, both erotic and historical, that visit the older Cavafy in his poems."

Here are the contextual domains that are explored:

The exploration of identity [1] as a person has moved from his home [4], and into a distant land [9] with some feelingsof being exiled [12], but also the implication of homosexuality [5] within the context of having to remain hidden or taboo [12]. It's dipping into the vast archive [9] of Cavafy's expressions of identity [1] and poetry and art [5], and recontextualizing as these universal experiences that are still very much relevant today [9].

Here is the Elemental Center of Gravity:

1st Center of Gravity of Air Element / Mental and Social Presence: collaboratively reading together - narrative distillation of an archive. You listening to the audio narration, but you have to negotiate how to co-read this "book" object together. The form of this "book" also deviates from normal book where it is part pop-up book, but also a flat stage to be explored with the other person. This externalized book becomes a bit of an abstracted theatrical stage for the story as it unfolds, but there are also more explicitly architectural elements to this "book" object as well. The piece also creates an implicit invitation to connect and talk with your audience partner afterwards about the piece2nd Center of Gravity of Water Element / Emotional Presence: AMAZING MUSIC + time-based narration + lighting. There's some amazing synchrony between the music, the timing of the reading, as well as the lighting. It really gives a strong sense of time. The reading of the story almost feels like a narrative podcast of sorts, but is mostly a matter of convenience of recording of the live performance so that it could be toured at immersive festivals without the burden of paying for all of the performers and musicians.3rd Center of Gravity of Earth Element / Environmental and Embodied Presence: Book like object as an architectural artifact, and has a whole spatial journey. The installation also had tables with lighting effects, but also there were projctions that were happening within the space as well. Most of the focus of spatial experience happens within the context of the architectural nature of the "book" object, but the other theatrical elements of the environment definitely help to cultivate an overall mood.4th Center of Gravity of Fire Element / Active Presence: Explore the story through various interactions. There's no narrative agency per se, although one could deviate from directly reading along with the text. There's an implicit contract to stay on course with your actions since you're negotiating the experience with another person.

Archetypal Themes and Character Explored:

Exploration of the "lost and missing queer archives through time; and by the ghosts, both erotic and historical, that visit the older Cavafy in his poems"

Artist Statement:

"My favorite response to this work was an audience member who described it as 'making love to a stranger through a book'. The work invites audiences into a sensual and concrete encounter with Cavafy’s life and poems: fingers making contact with history; illumination revealing images from between the pages; sounds conjuring the ghosts of 19th century Alexandrian cabarets. With words by sister sylvester, score by Nadah El Shazly, and illustrations by Efrîn Özyetis, Constantinopoliad is a multi-sensory encounter with the past, and with forgotten stories that can haunt us into