ARORA (formerly the #MakeUsVisible Campaign)               

• A new network of AR monuments for a more inclusive world
• You are surrounded by invisible art
• ACCESS THE COMPLETE FREE ONLINE EXHIBIT https://makeusvisible.io/
• ARORA FEATURED ON PBS
  https://www.pbs.org/video/augmented-reality-animation-at-queens-world-fi...
• ARORA juxtaposes digital sculptures of gender diverse figures against statues of men across the five boroughs of New York City. The interactive map available on XRE and Pollinate’s websites guides viewers to all virtual monuments shown in Augmented Reality. Use your smartphone screens, to reveal the true face of the city.

OUR STORY
In December 2021, Anne Wichmann had a vision to make Gender Equity Monuments Visible on the Streets of New York and founded ARORA (#MUV) along with #MUV co-founders Clara Francesca, Katie Peyton Hofstadter and Nam Le.

Wichmann approached her XR Ensemble co-founder Francesca with the idea, discussing how artists might use technology to create a framework to empower representation on a mass scale. According to the mayor’s office, New York strives to be “the best place in the world for women to succeed”, yet its public art tells a different story. 91% of our monuments honor men. To create this new public art campaign, they consulted with artist Erin Ko, who recommended two collaborators: Writer and artist-curator Katie Peyton Hofstadter and Nam Le, founder of Pollinate Art. All were enthusiastic to join the conversation, and the early team was formed.

The co-founders began the campaign by asking: Where are the women? Where are the nonbinary people? Where are monuments honoring girls of color, nonmale composers and filmmakers, pilots and nail technicians and teachers, who are not men? There are more statues of horses than notable women! How can anyone expect a more equitable world, when towering above them every day — on pedestals, on saddles, on 76-foot columns 76-foot columns— are only white men?