I was invited to the magnificently appointed Canada House recently for an evening of performance and virtual reality, curated by Montreal’s Phi Centre. I remember a little of the former virtual reality boom in the 90s, but seeing new promotions in recent film festivals points to this technology entering a new wave.

The slightly odd-looking glowing boxes at the bottom of the picture played images into headsets. I got to use one: it showed work by Vincent & Paul Studios, depicting Nomads: Herders – nomadic yak herders in Mongolia. It was like watching a 360 degree audio-visual representation of another world: everywhere I turned; the ground; the sky; left; right, was depicted. What next? Walking through these landscapes? Tactility? Memories of Wild Palms came to mind.

We were then invited to a function room for a musical event: artist Myriam Bleau using wireless acrylic spinning tops to play samples a piece called Soft Revolvers…

After a panel discussion on VR, we returned for another performance by laptop DJs playing music and motion graphics…

Sadly, I couldn’t remember the artists names (help, anyone?) but it was a riveting end to a fascinating evening.

The virtual reality garden will continue at Canada House (visits are free) with periodically changing artists, until mid-March next year.