Digital arts investment for Derry, Belfast and Causeway Coast & Glens

The funding is part of the Arts Council’s National Lottery Organisations Digital Evolution Awards, a programme which aims to support organisations making digital art for the first time or are working with digital or immersive technologies which they have not used previously.

The National Lottery Organisations Digital Evolution Awards is one of the Arts Council’s core National Lottery programme areas. To date the programme has provided £237,000 funding to organisations in the delivery of 24 digital arts projects across the region.

Matthew Malcolm, Arts Development Officer, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented, “Thanks to The National Lottery and Future Screens NI, this £60,000 investment will support the creation of ambitious art using digital and immersive technologies and will help organisations to develop skills in the use of these new technologies. This programme reflects the Arts Council’s commitment to encouraging experimentation, innovation and artistic risk taking, and to building digital capabilities within the Northern Ireland arts sector. We look forward to experiencing these exciting projects as they develop.”

Professor Paul Moore, Director, Future Screens NI, added, “The companies in this round of funding are at the forefront of those using world class R&D to find solutions to complex technological issues while building new forms of engagement for audiences. The work of these companies ensures that the sector in Northern Ireland sustains its place as a leader in the digital arts space.”

Among those offered funding through the National Lottery Organisations Digital Evolution Awards are:

North West Play Resource Centre (The Playhouse), Derry~Londonderry

Funding amount offered: £9,917.

Project: The School on the Edge of Reality.

Building on the success of 2025’s Derry-Londonderry’s standout Halloween attraction ‘The School on the Edge of Reality’, The Playhouse will expand on this in 2026 by introducing a new digital art room that sits alongside their existing theatrical set pieces. In addition to traditional stagecraft, this project will create a space where cutting-edge digital technologies and live, interactive theatrical elements collide. It will be theatrical, immersing audiences in The School’s imaginative world of Reality.

The Nerve Centre, Derry~Londonderry

Funding amount offered: £10,000.

Project: Outpouring.

Outpouring is a major new immersive installation from artist Joe Caslin and the Nerve Centre, co-created with young people across Belfast, which will explore how Augmented Reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI) and digital storytelling can merge physical and virtual worlds in new ways, creating genuinely participative public art. The project will reflect the hopes and ambitions of a new generation, serving as a powerful visual statement on reconciliation and progress. It will be situated at Riddel’s Warehouse, Belfast, a site of historical significance.

NI Science Festival, Belfast.

Funding amount offered: £10,000.

Project: Becoming (the dinner).

NI Science Festival will use this funding to commission a new immersive, sound-centric performative artwork, Becoming (the dinner), by Helena Hamilton, in collaboration with Janie Doherty and Aisling McGeown. Building upon the prototype of Becoming, this project will create an intimate three-person experience featuring a multi-speaker environmental soundscape and haptic table and chairs that explore the profound transformation of motherhood on the mother (matrescence).

Digital Arts Studios, Belfast

Funding amount offered: £10,000.

Project: XR Lab.

XR Research & Development Lab (XR Lab) at Digital Arts Studios supports artists in exploring extended reality (XR) technologies, including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, alongside 360° video and other immersive media. The XR Lab provides weekly technician-led sessions, workshops, artist talks, and field trips designed to foster hands-on experimentation, collaboration, and professional growth combining artist-led exploration with structured facilitation from expert technicians and visiting practitioners from across the arts, film, music, theatre, and gaming sectors.

In 2026, DAS will introduce a new XR Showcase strand, offering participants opportunities to present works-in-progress and completed projects to audiences, curators, and peers. This public-facing element promotes visibility, feedback, and professional networking, while deepening public engagement with immersive artforms.

Causeway Coast & Glens Heritage Trust, Co.Londonderry

Funding amount offered: £9,931.

Project: Defensive Realities.

Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust, in collaboration with artist, Robert Peters, will create an augmented reality and audio response to two WWII defence heritage sites in the coastal lowland below Binevenagh Mountain in County Londonderry. This project will explore the heritage of the sites through new digital artwork at the WWII Trainer Dome at the former RAF Limavady Airfield, and (WWII Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (HAAB) at Lower Drummans, Magilligan Strand. Thematically, the conceptual underpinning for the artwork will be ‘defence’ – exploring what these structures and associated emplacements were designed to defend and what they represent in a wider context.

Ludo Dao CIC, Belfast

Funding amount offered: £10,000.

Project: Belfast–Chongqing Digital Handshake.

Ludo Dao CIC’s Belfast–Chongqing Digital Handshake is a development initiative to create bilingual, intercultural digital experiences for international audiences. Delivered in partnership with the Confucius Institute at Ulster University and Asia American European Centre for Cultural Collaboration (AAEC) in Chongqing, the project will develop a new digital commentary, translation and cultural mediation workflow linked to Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026. Through collaboration with Ulster University’s linguistic and digital culture specialists, Ludo Dao CIC will develop bilingual digital storytelling and digital audience pathway design for international engagement.

The National Lottery Organisations Digital Evolution Awards scheme is now closed with all available funding allocated. For details on all other Arts Council funding opportunities visit www.artscouncil-ni.org