15 Wales based artists and arts organisations are among the first recipients of Immersive Arts funding.
In total, almost £1.2 million has been allocated to 83 artist-led projects across the UK in the first round of Immersive Arts funding - a scheme supporting artists of all backgrounds and experience to work with immersive technologies.
With three distinct grant amounts available - £5,000, £20,000 and £50,000 – the funding supports artists at different stages of their creative development: to explore, experiment or expand how they make work that uses technology to actively engage an audience.
Immersive Arts is UK-wide consortium, led by Pervasive Media Studio at Watershed, Bristol, with partners in each nation. Wales Millennium Centre is the lead organisation in Wales.
Immersive Arts received 2517 applications from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – a much higher than expected volume, revealing a high level of interest and demand for opportunities from artists seeking to make and share extraordinary immersive work. Around 200 of those applications were from Wales.
In this, the first round of Immersive Arts funding, £1,180,000 has been awarded as follows:
- 50 x £5,000 - Explore grants (8 in Wales)
- 24 x £20,000 - Experiment grants (5 in Wales)
- 9 x £50,000 - Expand grants (2 in Wales)
The successful artists will explore many different art forms including dance, theatre, visual arts, music, games, animation, film, sculpture and live art. They will work with a broad range of technologies including virtual, augmented and mixed reality, spatial audio, interactive projections, machine vision, responsive environments, artificial intelligence, haptics and connected textiles.
Among those receiving an Expand grant in Wales is Jack Philip for ‘We Live In An Old Chaos of the Sun’, a contemporary dance work bringing together worlds of choreography with immersive, real time digital technology.
Jack said, “I'm truly excited and grateful to be part of Immersive Arts U.K.'s inaugural cohort of funded projects. It’s a complete testament to collaboration and connection, both across Wales and beyond, and I’m honoured to contribute to work that’s deeply rooted in those relationships. This opportunity is both a privilege and a reminder of the power of authentic, progressive bonds rooted in creative ambition. I’m so excited to make our ideas possible, and I'm thankful for Immersive Arts U.K.'s belief in my vision and the chance to bring it to life. Their support fuels my ambition and inspires me to continue creating with purpose and heart.”
Common/Wealth, a company based in Cardiff and Bradford, will also receive an Expand grant.
Rhiannon White and Camilla Brueton of Common/Wealth said,
"Common/Wealth are thrilled to be the recipient of the Immersive Arts Expand Fund and can't wait to explore the possibilities of Immersive storytelling. We are excited to develop our approach to immersive arts alongside our artists and audiences. We see the power immersive technology has in shaping our futures—how stories are told and by whom. Like theatre, we think this should belong to everyone.
"Our focus will be on our Autumn production where we will explore overlapping digital realities, DIY surveillance and AI working with Creative Technologist Nathanial Mason. We'll be announcing more details soon.”
Rhys Miles Thomas, recipient of an Experiment grant, said:
"It's absolutely brilliant to be a recipient of an Immersive Arts award! It's very special to be able to be able to showcase my work as a proud Welsh DDN (Deaf, Disabled or Neurodiverse) creative. In an environment where the arts are being devalued, and with devastating cuts to DDN support - having a programme such as the Immersive Arts fund is vitally important. Diolch am y rhyddid i greu. Ymlaen!"
Funding for Immersive Arts is provided through a collaboration between the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England (ACE), the Arts Council of Wales (ACW), Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI). Funding from Creative Scotland, ACW and ACNI is provided by The National Lottery.
Opening up the immersive sector
The Immersive Arts programme aims to create an inclusive and accessible environment for creative people to engage with immersive technologies. This includes artists who have never had the opportunity to work in this way before, and those who have been marginalised within the sector. There is clear evidence that people in the UK are unjustly disadvantaged on the basis of gender, ethnicity and disability (among other factors). These inequities are well documented in the arts, and can be more pronounced where technology is involved. The Immersive Arts team is working to counter these inequities, and are extremely encouraged to have received applications from artists with a rich diversity of lived experiences, from across the UK.
A full list of first-round Immersive Arts funded projects, including the 15 from Wales, is available on the Immersive Arts website https://immersivearts.uk/.