Bita Razavi: Inhabitants of Our Planet

Inhabitants of Our Planet (2021) is a nature documentary filmed in video game environments. It explores the relationship between organic and digital, drawing on the genre of nature documentary and the idealised worlds of various video games.

Bita Razavi’s background as a documentary filmmaker is reflected in the form and content of the work. The film plays with styles and techniques of storytelling, sound design and cinematography familiar from nature documentaries, and explores the potential of the game controller being used as a camera. Wide shots from a bird’s-eye view are accompanied by epic music, and we are treated to dramatic, funny and touching scenes of life in the coniferous forest in different seasons and weather conditions. The cycle of life and the food chain are present, but challenges are often narrowly overcome, and in the end nature and the viewer are restored to a state of harmony.

The 12-minute video work relates to Razavi’s recent practice, which focuses on the liminality of physical and digital experiences and the interstices between natural and artificial places. Razavi is also interested in the solitary nature of gaming and the melancholy caused by the distance between the isolated player and nature. This sense of alienation is explored through the graphics of several video games such as Far Cry 5, Hunter: Call of the Wild, Red Dead Redemption, Witcher 3, and Flight Simulator 2020.

Bita Razavi (b. 1983 in Tehran) is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist living and working in both Helsinki and Mahu, Estonia. She is known for her works that observe everyday situations, which are significantly influenced by where she is based at the time. Razavi examines the inner workings of social systems in relation to the political structures and national events of historic proportions in various countries. Her work has been widely seen on the international art scene and she represented Estonia at the Venice Biennale 2022 together with Kristina Norman. In Finland, her work has recently been shown at the Helsinki Biennale, Purnu and the Uni2 project at the University of Turku.

Inhabitants of Our Planet is commissioned by Vaasa City Museums, co-produced by Post Theatre Collective, and supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

The exhibition is supported by the Finnish Heritage Agency.