APICC is proud to co-present Altar-N8 Realm as part of CHINATOWN: OUR FUTURE IS NOW! an outdoor showcase taking place at Portsmouth Square on May 30th, 2021 for the 24th annual United States of Asian America Festival: Forging Our Futures - SoMa & Chinatown. 

Macro Waves presents Altar-N8 Realm, an outdoor augmented reality art exhibition that honors our past/future ancestors through virtual offerings of food, prayer, and reflection in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Through smartphones, viewers are welcome to experience the exhibition as an interactive walking tour of Chinatown. In response to the pandemic, Altar-N8 Realm fosters recovery, resilience, and regeneration by utilizing interactive technology as a form of storytelling, uplifting Chinatown voices in support of small businesses. Inspired by the Qingming Festival, Altar-N8 Realm poses the question, “how can offerings form a spiritual bond between our ancestors and our present self?”

Experience the Altar-n8 Realm - AR exhibition by following these steps:

1. From May 30 - August 31, 2021: Reserve your free ticket on Eventbrite. 
2. Download the Adobe Aero app to your mobile device here.
   (fully supported on iPhone and limited compatibility with Android)
3. Download the Altar-n8 Realm map / instructions at https://macrowaves.xyz/Altar-N8-Realm.
4. Follow the self-guided walking tour map to find each participating business and choose your starting point.
5. When you get to Chinatown: Look out for the Altar-n8 Realm instructional posters located on the storefront of each participating business. Follow the provided instructions on the poster and Aero app to see each AR altar artwork.

ABOUT MACROWAVES

Macro Waves is an art collective and creative studio composed of artists, designers, and technologists of color based in Oakland, CA. Through their practices in conceptual art, new media, and design, they transform spaces into places for human connection, exploration, and play. By embracing the process of collaboration, the collective produces immersive experiences, interactive installations, community-based exhibitions, and virtual experiences that explore alternative modalities of healing justice, intergenerational trauma, and mental health for QTBIPOC+ communities.

#macrowaves #Altar-N8Realm

Follow @macro_waves_ on IG and Macro Waves Collective on Facebook

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Accepting donations at on the Altar-N8 Realm website and on Venmo @macrowaves.

Register for the launch of the project on Eventbrite.

# # #

Header Banner Alternative Text:

In the center of the image is an augmented reality artwork of a red-brown traditional Chinese altar cabinet, with a bronze bowl incense holder, sitting in the center of the cabinet, surrounded by circle bamboo trays of dim sum is floating in the middle of a street in San Francisco Chinatown, as its reflection appears as a shadow on the floor. There are red lanterns that hang from the left and right buildings, cars are parked on the upper left side, while trees in large pots are staggered in a line on the right side.

A close-up digital artwork image of a red-brown traditional Chinese altar cabinet, with a bronze bowl incense holder, sits in the center of the cabinet, and to the left and right sits circle bamboo trays of dim sum.

Attend the Launch at Portsmouth Square

Register on Eventbrite.