Almost £1.2 million has been allocated to 83 artist-led projects across the UK in the first round of Immersive Arts funding, backing artists working with immersive technologies.
The scheme supports artists of all backgrounds and experience that are using technology to actively engage audiences. Grants of £5,000, £20,000 and £50,000 are available.
Immersive Arts received 2,517 applications from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In the first round of Immersive Arts funding, £1,180,000 was awarded in the form of 50 x £5,000 Explore grants, 24 x £20,000 Experiment grants, and 9 x £50,000 Expand grants.
The 83 successful projects will explore 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.
Principal investigator and director of Immersive Arts,Verity McIntosh, Associate Professor of Virtual and Extended Realities at UWE Bristol, said: “We are delighted that people have trusted us with their brave and brilliant ideas, and are very excited to now see so many of these ideas being taken forward. These artists are exploring immersive technologies in a myriad of exciting and distinctive ways, developing a community of practice, and practice-led research that we hope will last for many years to come.”
The programme funders are 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). Commenting on their behalf, AHRC executive chair Christopher Smith said: “Immersive technologies offer the UK’s artists and creatives new and exciting ways to produce work that engages the public and promotes growth in our creative industries. This programme is designed to give them access to these cutting-edge creative technologies to see how they can be used, and it is clear from the number of applications that it is an opportunity they are eager to take. We cannot wait to see what further innovations they can unlock and which new creative frontiers they can explore.”
A full list of first-round Immersive Arts funded projects is available on the Immersive Arts website.
The top image shows 'Your Rage is Sacred', a mixed reality performance in a 360-degree AV space by Clémentine Bedos who was awarded an Expand grant to build on the work with a project called Breathscapes.