Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley: What Would You Do?

The Culture & Technology podcast 030 | July 10, 2025

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Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley: What would you do?

For this season’s final episode of The Culture and Technology podcast we are joined by Danielle Braithwaite-Shirley to learn how video games can be works of art and amplify the voices of black trans people.

Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley is an artist living and working in Berlin and London. Her work aims to archive the experiences of Black trans people by creating video games and interactive experiences. Influenced by early gaming history and personal experiences, her work aims to make audiences reflect on their choices and emotions rather than simply consume art passively.

In this conversation with Severin, she discusses her journey from early experimental games to complex social installations such as Soul Station, 2024. Her upcoming show at Serpentine London explores how interactive spaces can help strangers connect emotionally in an increasingly polarized world, challenging traditional gallery experiences while making art more socially functional.

GUESTS

Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley is a Berlin-based artist who works predominantly in animation, sound, video game development, and performance, creating interactive spaces. Her practice focuses on intertwining lived experience with fiction to imaginatively retell the stories of Black Trans people.

HOST

Severin Matusek is a cultural theorist and founder of co—matter, a creative studio exploring the cultural and societal impact of new technologies.

IDEAS AND PEOPLE IN CONTEXT

The internet Archive preserve internet’s past https://archive.org/
Black Trans Archive https://blacktransarchive.com/
I can’t remember a time I didn’t need you https://transmediale.de/de/artwork/i-cant-remember-a-time-i-didnt-need-you
Resurrection Lands, an online game by Brathwaithe-Shirley https://onesouthend.com/resurrection-lands/
The Soul Station exhibition by Brathwaithe Shirley at Light Art Space in Berlin, 2024 https://www.las-art.foundation/programme/the-soul-station

CREDITS

The Vienna Business Agency supports new companies, projects and products that develop Vienna's creative industries further. Find out more at viennabusinessagency.at

Editorial & Production Team (in alphabetical order): Carina Dala, Mike Evans, Nick Houde, Kesia Inkersole, Severin Matusek, Elisabeth Noever-Ginthör, Alice Smith, Heinz Wolf

Theme Music by Hell Mutang.

S5E6 is now out and available wherever you listen to podcasts.