MUNKINATION:
a second chance
Munkination: A Second Chance is an immersive experience that blends virtual reality, augmented reality, illustration, music and storytelling to explore themes of climate collapse, power, and redemption. At the centre is an original soundtrack that fuses opera with hip-hop and trap - not just for effect, but to reframe how opera is experienced and who it can speak to.
This project started as a personal idea. I was 15, in a boarding school in South Africa, sketching out a story about a future where the last tribe on Earth is fighting to survive after an environmental disaster. It was originally a concept for a comic book. More than a decade later, that same concept became the foundation for Munkination, which went on to win the Immersive Opera Award and kick off a two-year development partnership with the Royal Opera House.
Role:
Creative Director, Lead Artist & Composer
Partners:
Award (s):
Immersive Opera Award, Creative XR
What I Was Asked to Do
The Royal Opera House wanted to explore how opera could reach new audiences - especially younger people, digital natives, and communities that have historically been left out of opera spaces. I was brought on to lead a project that could experiment with immersive formats, challenge expectations, and connect across genres and cultures without losing its message.
What I Delivered
I led the creative vision for Munkination, developing a VR and AR experience built around a bold graphic world, layered storytelling, and a hybrid soundtrack. We didn’t use tech for the sake of novelty - every element was designed to pull the audience into the story and make them feel the urgency of the world we were building.
The visual direction drew from Afrofuturism, protest art, and speculative fiction. We built original characters, soundscapes, and environments that invited people to reflect on what justice, survival, and community look like in a broken world.
I worked with a diverse team - including opera singers, librettists, composers, coders, 3D artists, producers, and sound designers - to bring the project to life. We built functional prototypes and tested them through live showcases, workshops, and international labs.
WHICH CHARACTER ARE YOU?
Below are images and descriptions of the FOUR main archetypes within the world of Munkination. In the battle against climate apocalypse you are one of them, choose wisely.
WARRIOR
An activist who overcomes challenges, thrives in adversity, and fights for the good of the tribe.
Your primary characteristic traits are bravery, determination and ambition.
Examples: Activists, Leaders, Politicians, Organisers.
PATHFINDER
An influencer who spreads the word, builds bridges and encourages others to follow the right path.
Your primary characteristic traits are charisma, intelligence and wisdom.
Examples: Influencers, Campaigners, Celebrities, Press
SHAMAN
A storyteller weaving narratives about the past and the future and fulfilling spiritual needs.
Your primary characteristic traits are compassion, intuition and imagination.
Examples: Artists, Actors, Writers, Poets, Musicians
MAKER
An inventor with the ability to find solutions to any problem, a risk taker who strives towards a greater future.
Your primary characteristic traits are curiosity, open mind and courage.
Examples: Problem-Solvers, Scientists, Inventors
What Happened Next
Munkination was selected for CPH:LABS in Copenhagen and Creative XR in London. It was shortlisted for the Fedora Digital Prize and went on to be showcased across the UK, Denmark, and the United States.
For me, it’s more than just an immersive project. It’s proof of what can happen when institutions are willing to trust emerging artists - and when artists are given the space to tell stories that reflect where they come from and what they care about.
From a teenage sketchbook to international festivals - Munkination is a reminder that early ideas are worth protecting. Sometimes they grow into something much bigger than you expected.
MUNKINATION
“A TRIP DOWN
MEMORY LANE”
A prototype augmented reality (AR) app for iPhones & Androids which places the audience member at the centre of a futuristic adventure story about climate change. This app is the first glimpse into the Munkination world.
Created for Creative XR in 2020.
A Concept by HAM the Illustrator.
Executive Producers
Royal Opera House:
Artistic Director and Head of Audience Labs – Annette Mees
Senior Producer, Audience Labs – Sam King
Project Producer – Eva Liparova
Technical Partners
Visualise:
Technical Lead, Co-founder and XR Supervisor – Henry Stuart
Producer – Richard Loader
3D Sound Designer – Henrik Opperman
Creative Team
Creative Director - HAM
Music Composer - HAM
Lead VR Artist – Kayleigh Eliza
Opera Singers:
Soprano – Gweneth-Ann Rand
Baritone – Ross Ramgobin
Voice overs:
Voiceover writer – Simone Ibbet-Brown
Voiceover Artist – Gweneth-Ann Rand
Munkination AR Demo - Creative XR, 2020
CREATIVE XR:
THE MUNKINATION APP
Our AR app, developed in collaboration with Visualise, introduces an innovative way to experience storytelling. By placing a virtual 'portal' in your physical surroundings, you can step through it and follow the guidance of a member from the Usan tribe, who speaks from the future.
Once you walk through this portal, you enter a visually abstract representation of the future—an immersive descent through time into a progressively darker world. This environment and its animations were crafted using a VR painting tool called 'Tilt Brush'. The virtual landscape was brought to life by artist Kayleigh Eliza, who drew inspiration from HAM and the Royal Opera House to create this stunning depiction of the Munkination narrative.
As you navigate this journey, an incredible soundtrack—composed jointly by HAM and the Royal Opera House—plays in the background. The audio is spatially tracked, enhancing your immersion and helping to anchor you within the context of this new world. At the journey's end, you encounter four members of the San tribe, setting the stage for the next phase of the experience involving intricate face masks.
Ultimately Munkination was built to raise awareness in climate change, this is just a small part of the bigger Munkination story, but one that we hope will open more doors (and portals) for this brilliant concept in the future.