Join XRtist Hannah Aria for a unique immersive virtual gallery experience that builds a bridge between worlds.

The Window to the Soul immersive gallery is a virtual exhibition with international collaborators in regions of conflict, showcasing artwork, poetry and creative writing from women and girls from Afghanistan who are based both in the UK and Afghanistan.

The gallery also contains unique ‘talking paintings’ that combine Hannah’s portraiture paintings with creative writing from contributors, which are then brought to life using voice actors and motion graphics technology.

The virtual gallery will be projected in the Cinema whilst Hannah will deliver a personal tour of the artworks, providing a real insight into the experiences of women and girls from Afghanistan using an exciting combination of traditional media and new technologies.

About the project

“Window to the Soul” is a research and development project that combines arts, tech and social justice themes to amplify the voices of women and girls from Afghanistan.

The project seeks to foster greater public empathy by raising awareness of the challenges faced by women and girls in and from Afghanistan, with a particular focus on their right to education.

By shedding light on these issues, the project aims to build connections between women and girls and opportunities for remote education, learning and international scholarships.

The project officially launched in 2023 after being kickstarted by a Firstsite bursary award, and has gone on to gain additional funding from the British Council and Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants.

Find out more at windowtothesoulafghanistan.com and @windowtothesoulafghanistan on Instagram

About the artist

Hannah Aria is a multidisciplinary artist (XRtist- Extended Reality Artist) and advocate whose work bridges performance, visual arts, and emerging technologies to create meaningful social impact.

Born in England, she is passionate about using creativity as a force for good, exploring ethical ways to harness new technologies while amplifying underrepresented voices and championing social justice.

Since 2023, Hannah has been pioneering immersive technologies through her long-term project Window to the Soul, which elevates stories of women and girls from Afghanistan using VR (Virtual Reality)/ XR (Extended Reality) experiences.

Her commitment to gender equality has led her to collaborate with UN Women UK, participating in CSW68 and CSW69 to advocate for systemic change.

As a neurodivergent artist with ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, and Irlen’s Syndrome, as well as living with chronic illness and PoTS, Hannah is a vocal advocate for accessibility and reasonable adjustments in the arts.

She has lectured at Arts University Bournemouth on inclusive arts practices and presented research to the British Working Class Art Network, supported by Tate Research and the British Museum.

Before her immersive work, Hannah co-founded and co-directed Neurodelicious, a groundbreaking neurodivergent performance art movement that toured London and East Anglia twice.

Her visual art has been exhibited extensively across the UK.

Since 2020, Hannah’s practice has received five separate grants from Arts Council England, supporting projects ranging from online participatory workshops to touring Neurodelicious and developing immersive VR experiences.

She graduated with First-Class Honours in Arts Practice from the University of Suffolk in 2020.