The Anticipation of Rain



The Anticipation of Rain is fine artist Naima Karim’s personal reflection on creative inspiration and plea for global collaboration in a time of climate change.

The Anticipation of rain creator, Naima’s artwork celebrates the changing beauty of skies, but in particular the dynamic nature of skies, the arrival of the monsoon, and its significance to her homeland, Bangladesh. Her fascination with the power and beauty of the natural world was born from a time in her life when she was left temporarily paralysed by a virus. Unable to move for over a year, she spent her time studying and staring at the sky in awe and wonder as it morphed in colour and form above her.

The Anticipation of Rain is a seven-minute, linear virtual reality experience, it utilises 3D digital representations of Naima’s unique brushwork, two spacially designed scents associted with monsoon rain, and a rich and immersive sound design to represent the arrival of a monsoon storm. Having grown up in Bangladesh, the South Asian monsoon is a joyous, exciting, and romantic experience for Naima. Naima’s voice guides the audience through her moving lived experience and provokes questioning around climate change.

Climate change has made the South Asia monsoon increasingly erratic, causing extreme rainfall and drought in equal measure across the Indian subcontinent. In low-lying Bangladesh, the arrival of the monsoon, once associated with hope and renewal, is now a time of fear and loss. Naima has hope that her monsoon rain will inspire all to see, love, and protect our beautiful world.

  • Naima Karim
    Director
  • Naima Karim
    Writer
  • Mitch Turnbull
    Producer
    1995-2000: Ultimate Guide - Snakes (Discovery Channel) Africa’s Deadly Dozen (National Geographic Channel), Wild Indonesia (PBS). 2010-2015: Wild Amazon (National Geographic Channel), Notes on Ice (Bramble Media), Silent Scream (Zed Productions), Deadly 60 Live (BBC Studios), Born In China (Disneynature), Growing A World Wonder (UN), Wildlife Ambassadors (The Royal Foundation). 2015-2020: Cat Flight (BBC Studios/Oculus), Oogie (BBC Studios/Oculus), Planet Earth II 360 (BBC Studios), Living on The Edge (Smithsonian Channel), Wild Myths (Smithsonian Channel), African Edens (Smithsonian Channel), Wild Britain (Channel 5), EarthSongs (Bramble Media), Micro Kingdoms (BBC Studios/Magic Leap), New Realities (Lenovo). 2020-2022: Wild Visitors To My Home (British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust), The Anticipation of Rain (Ithra), Endangered (BBC Studios).
  • Naima Karim
    Lead Artists
    2022 Painting, Asian Art Biennale, Bangladesh 2022 “The Anticipation of Rain” Sync immersive exhibition, Ithra, Saudi Arabia 2022 “The Anticipation of Rain” Creative Solutions Program, Ithra, Saudi Arabia 2020 Painting, 2nd Dafen International Oil Painting Biennale, Shenzhen, China 2019 Painting, 8th Beijing International Biennale, China 2018 Painting, 1st Dafen international Oil painting Biennale in December 26th-Feb 20th, Shenzhen, China 2017 Painting, Solo exhibition, Dhahran Art Gallery, Saudi Arabia
  • Richard Tongeman
    Key Collaborators
    Despatch VR, The Night Fisherman
  • Henrik Oppermann
    Key Collaborators
    Sea Prayer and Songbird and Bjork’s Vulnicura.
  • Jason Storey
    Key Collaborators
    Dispatch
  • Lorna Inman
    Key Collaborators
    Girmit
  • Andreas Wilhelm
    Key Collaborators
    We Live in an Ocean of Air
  • Gaëlle Mourre
    Key Collaborators
    (Hi) Story of Painting
  • Project Type:
    Virtual Reality, Installation
  • Genres:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 10, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    114,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Netherlands
  • Language:
    English
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Creative Solutions Demo
    Dhahran
    Saudi Arabia
    February 7, 2022
    Saudi Arabia
    Exhibition
  • Sync Summit
    Dhahran
    Saudi Arabia
    March 30, 2023
  • International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    November 9, 2022
    World Premiere
    Immersive non fiction competition
  • Gamers 8
    Riyadh
    Saudi Arabia
    July 12, 2022
  • Red Sea Film Festival
    Jeddah
    Saudi Arabia
    December 1, 2022
  • Steriopsea Europe, Crystal Owl Award nominee
    Brussels
    Belgium
    Crystal Owl Award nomination
  • VR Awards by AIXR, UK

    Social Impact Award nominee
  • MozFest Virtual
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    March 20, 2023
    Session accepted in Arts & Media
  • MozFest House
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    June 19, 2023
    Selected for interactive session
  • 9th Saudi Film festival
    Dhahran
    Saudi Arabia
    May 4, 2023
  • 16th Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival
    Belgrade
    Serbia
    Regional Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Siggraph 2023
    Los Algeles
    United States
    August 6, 2023
    Official selection
  • Forum Groningen
    Groningen
    Netherlands
    November 16, 2023
  • Leap 23
    Riyadh
    Saudi Arabia
    February 8, 2024
Distribution Information
  • Naima Karim
Director Biography - Naima Karim

Naima Karim’s paintings are her dreams, her happiness, and her celebrations. To Naima, the sky defines greatness and beauty, it is mysterious, distant, personal, and familiar. She discovered this as a child growing up in Bangladesh.
She has a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University.
While studying, in her final year, she suffered a neurological disorder called Guillain Barre Syndrome and was left completely paralyzed. It took her one and half years to walk again. Those days her only dream was to run across a field of grass and look at the beautiful sky.
When she recovered and graduated, she moved to the Netherlands. The Dutch masters like Van Gogh’s colorful paintings and Ruisdael’s deep, dark clouds inspired her. Now she lives in Saudi Arabia where the sky is clear with simple yet rich colors.
She work’s with watercolor, acrylic, oil, and mixed media. Her works are realistic, impressionistic, abstract, and minimalist. She has an interest and experimenting with some installations as well.

Her work has been exhibited at Beijing International Biennale, Dafen International Oil painting Biennale, Asian Art Biennial, and Sync Summit-Saudi Arabia. The Anticipation of Rain is her first foray into virtual reality production and 3D art.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Monsoon rain in Bangladesh is a joyous, exciting, and romantic experience for me. To share and immerse the audience fully in the experience I was inspired to create The Anticipation of Rain. I aim to inspire all to take care of the beautiful world that we share.