Rory Friers, Stunt Double Music, Three’s Theatre Company and Yellow Designs share in £95,000 funding

The funding is part of the Creative Industries Seed Fund, a programme which aims to develop partnerships that will use the arts within new and emerging digital, immersive technologies to expand the possibilities of how the arts can be developed and distributed in new and innovate ways. It also aims to assist arts organisations, entrepreneurs, and creative businesses to undertake projects that contribute to the growth of the creative industries and unlock future income generation.

Karly Greene, Director of Strategic Development and Partnerships, at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented,

“Today’s announcement is welcome news and I congratulate the organisations involved. Thanks to The National Lottery players, this funding will support innovative and exciting projects that develop and distribute the arts in new and innovative ways using digital and immersive technologies. The Creative Industries Seed Fund reflects the Arts Council’s continuing commitment to encouraging innovative practices that cross artform boundaries and build digital capabilities within the Northern Ireland arts sector.”

Among those offered funding through the Creative Industries Seed Fund are:

Rory Friers
Funding amount offered: £25,000
Project: Holonic Field
Holonic Fields is an interactive music and visual experience that allows up to three participants to dynamically explore a real-time composition. Participants will be able to freely move through the space, embodying a deconstructed music composition. Their bodies and movements will be visually reflected in abstract 3d form, yet also dynamically connected to the audio. The project will be showcased at the Northern Ireland Science Festival in 2024. Holonic Field aims to inspire the participants through its gestural, augmented and collaborative approach to creative expression. To reimagine what music and musical composition means.

Yellow Branding & Digital Media Unlimited
Funding amount offered: £24,250
Project: Dreamer's Space
Dreamer’s Space is an AR-based storytelling project that is a user-centered, creative educational programme that can be exhibited in creative spaces such as arts venues and schools. Dreamer’s Space will use children’s artwork, narrative and creative choices to inspire their own version of Web AR Dreamer's Space. The aim is to create a child centred, engaged experience that validates the child's creativity and imagination by putting children in the driver's seat in making the creative choices in the experience . The project aims to inject more creativity into the classroom, in a bid to improve educational outcomes for students.

Stunt Double Music Ltd
Funding amount offered: £22,875
Project: The Vox Set @ Mussenden Temple: A Virtual Reality Music Experience
Following a successful virtual reality (VR) music project performed, shot and recorded in Mussenden Temple in early 2022, Stunt Double Music Ltd, has partnered with The National Trust to deliver a series of high quality immersive musical concerts in Mussenden Temple this summer. The programme of six concerts is being curated by Hannah McPhillimy (aka Ferna, NI Music Prize Single of the Year winner 2022) and will feature musical collaborations between contemporary and classical artists. The creation of the project will also involve students from Ulster University.

Three’s Theatre Company
Funding amount offered: £22,875
Project: UnSmart Home / Internet of Things
The Unsmart Home is an immersive experience designed to engage children aged 7-11 in computer programming in a creative and interactive way. The 2022 pilot centred around a room designed from the ground up with smart-home technology, featuring interactive displays and coloured changing lights. Through a set of coding challenges, participants must restore order to the room and help cure the Smart Home Assistant.

Learnings from the pilot will shape an “Internet of Things” version of the project which will be easily transported to schools and events, and include two levels, creating different challenges for secondary school students aged 12-16. Three’s Theatre Company will be responsible for sound design, story writing, experience and set design and their project partner, Queen’s University Belfast, will focus on the building and delivery of individual puzzle components to fit together into a cohesive experience.

The Creative Industries Seed Fund is now closed with all available funding allocated. For details on all Arts Council funding opportunities visit www.artscouncil-ni.org/funding