Transhuman Ansambl: a system for immersive and performative experience of music heritage

Abstract

Inspired by the concept of creative heritage introduced to heritage studies by Lauren Istvandity, this paper presents the design process of Transhuman Ansambl–a novel, interactive technological choir supporting immersive and creative ways of retrieving and interpreting musical heritage. Transhuman Ansambl is an autonomous system created for live performances and engaging experiences of traditional folk music. Developed as part of the first author’s practice-based PhD, the system draws inspiration from her Croatian heritage and is informed by an ethnographic study conducted with two professional Croatian folk dance and singing ensembles. We emphasise how personal artistic encounters with the system revealed a growing need to evolve it towards more creative forms of music heritage support. Our approach involved understanding how to integrate contemporary performing arts methodologies with new technologies for traditional music preservation and performance. These concepts propose alternative, more sustainable approaches to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH) while fostering the production of new knowledge that sits alongside historical narratives. Given the long-standing challenge of preserving music performances due to their ephemeral and intangible nature, our work offers a novel, engaging system for audiences to connect with cultural music histories through immersive, relatable experiences.