FREE one-day Digital and Immersive Arts Showcase at The Nerve Centre

This is an opportunity to meet some of Northern Ireland’s most exciting digital and immersive artists and experience their innovative and exciting work that has been supported through Arts Council NI’s National Lottery Creative Industries Seed Fund and National Lottery Individual Artists Digital Evolution programmes. Throughout the day, audiences will have the chance to explore innovative work created using emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), immersive audio and interactive digital tools.

Whether you’re an artist, filmmaker, technologist, student, or simply curious about immersive media, this event offers an inspiring introduction to what’s possible when art meets technology.

Exhibiting artists include:

• Digital Art Studios – XR Lab. A showcase of experimental XR projects developed through collaborative research and creative exploration of immersive technologies.

• Corrina Askin – Dreamers Space Project. A WebAR platform inviting children to design and interact with imaginative digital worlds using accessible, browser-based technology.

• Ulster Touring Opera – Carbon Women. A prototype for a new mixed-reality theatre work combining opera and digital performance presented on a Quest 3 headset.

• Damian Mills – The Art of VR Music. An interactive VR project examining music creation, accessibility and creative expression within virtual environments.

• David Haughey – Every Square Metre Every Hour. A game-engine reconstruction of a local television studio, exploring place, memory and the digital recreation of real-world environments.

• Deepa Mann-Kler – The Metaverse & Me. An augmented reality exhibition where painted artworks reveal hidden digital layers, combining cutting-edge digital animation with a stunning soundtrack.

• Gráinne Taylor – Can Technology Compete with Tradition? - a fashion-based installation exploring the relationship between traditional craft techniques and emerging digital processes.

• Jordie Burns – Live Music for a Virtual World. A performance-led experiment blending live music with immersive virtual environments and interactive digital visuals.

• Tale Time Stories – The Story Dome. An immersive, dome-based storytelling experience designed to engage young audiences through sound, image and narrative.

These ground-breaking artists, working across visual arts, music, theatre, dance and creative programming, have all been supported by Future Screens NI and The National Lottery through the Arts Council, to develop exciting, high-quality arts projects using innovative digital and immersive technologies, including Extended Reality (Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Realities) and/or games engines.

Matthew Malcolm, Creative Industries Development Officer at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented,

“The Arts Council is excited to host this event at the Never Centre which will showcase a selection of incredible digital arts projects created by innovative NI artists, thanks to game-changing funding from The National Lottery players and Future Screens NI. This investment has supported these artists in learning new skills to create art using digital and immersive technologies, and has helped to widen and diversify audiences, so that more people from all backgrounds can enjoy arts experiences.

The Arts Council’s investment in digital arts reflects our commitment to invest in creating a sector that is more supported to develop through experimentation and innovation. Our digital arts programmes encourage innovative practices that cross artform boundaries and builds digital capabilities within the Northern Ireland arts sector, and I would encourage everyone to come along to the Nerve Centre on 18th February to experience these ambitious, exciting projects.”

This event is free of charge, drop in 12pm–5pm, suitable for ages 16+. Please register your place at https://nervecentre.org/whats-on/digital-immersive-arts-regional-showcase-day-ni-science-festival