A look behind the shiny surfaces of the tech industry

Virtually immerse yourself in the lives of miners in small-scale gold mining in the Kamituga region (Democratic Republic of Congo).

Zentrum | SOC

Smartphones, tablets and computers do not work without the rare minerals used in their components and gold is one of these precious minerals. Those devices make use of gold as a chemically stable and exceptional conductor for their electronic circuits. About 7% of global gold is used for these technological purposes.

Around 80% of the global labor force involved in gold mining is occupied in so-called artisanal or small-scale mining activities. That is a total of 45 million workers (30% women, 70% men) across 60 countries, mainly in the Southern hemisphere.

Despite their significant contributions to major global mineral supply chains, artisanal and small-scale miners are some of the world’s most marginalized workers and their contribution to the global economy garners little attention. Artisanal mining activity typically takes place in rural areas without access to proper health infrastructure and lack of government support, such as Kamituga in Eastern Congo (DRC).

It is estimated that at least 134 million people work in related industries that support artisanal and small-scale mining activities, including small-scale processing, buying and selling, but also restaurants and bars, shops, equipment, and transport facilities.

Kamituga | Digital Gold was originally designed as an exhibition for the Museum für Gestaltung in 2022. Showcasing scans of artisanal mines with integrated interactions, the immersive exhibition aimed for the visitors to discover, listen, explore and ultimately take a look behind the shiny surfaces of the tech industry.

Today you are presented a scan version of the exhibition, which allowed the team of the Immersive Arts Space to recreate the original expereience and continue the virtual immersion into the livelihoods of the artisanal gold miners in Kamituga.

This project is a cooperation between Political Geography at University Zurich (UZH) and the Immersive Arts Space at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).