CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN IMMERSIVE STORYTELLING
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN IMMERSIVE STORYTELLING
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN IMMERSIVE STORYTELLING
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The Annwn Prize awards the best story-driven work made through the use of creative technology from around the world.
It recognises works that make audiences feel like an active and integral part of the piece, and utilise technologies that enhance, augment or transform our sense of reality.
The Annwn Prize awards the best story-driven work made through the use of creative technology from around the world.
It recognises works that make audiences feel like an active and integral part of the piece, and utilise technologies that enhance, augment or transform our sense of reality.
Nominated by a community of international curators and commentators, four shortlisted works will be showcased in a major exhibition at Wales Millennium Centre, giving an opportunity for audiences to experience the very best work from across the world in the UK.
A jury of experts and well-known faces will select the winning artist or studio, who will receive a £20,000 prize and a bespoke residency to support the development of new work.
Nominated by a community of international curators and commentators, four shortlisted works will be showcased in a major exhibition at Wales Millennium Centre, giving an opportunity for audiences to experience the very best work from across the world in the UK.
A jury of experts and well-known faces will select the winning artist or studio, who will receive a £20,000 prize and a bespoke residency to support the development of new work.





Annwn (pronounced [Ahn-wn]) is “the Otherworld” in Welsh mythology, a parallel realm of dreams and delights.
The Annwn Prize, set up by Wales Millennium Centre and produced with Crossover Labs, is made possible through the generous support of Peter and Janet Swinburn.
Annwn (pronounced [Ahn-wn]) is “the Otherworld” in Welsh mythology, a parallel realm of dreams and delights.
The Annwn Prize, set up by Wales Millennium Centre and produced with Crossover Labs, is made possible through the generous support of Peter and Janet Swinburn.
LONGLIST


Lisa Jackson
Wilfred Buck's Star Stories
Designed for domes and planetariums, this 21-minute XR work brings to life four star stories shared by Ininew (Cree) astronomer and author Wilfred Buck. These stories range from practical to poetic, offering guidance on navigation, seasonal cycles and living well for future generations. WILFRED BUCK'S STAR STORIES shares a rarely heard Indigenous perspective on astronomy and cosmology. The experience features immersive night sky cinematography, cosmic CGI and detailed macro shots of meteorites, all set to a transporting soundtrack. It combines the vastness of the universe with the intimacy of listening to a wise Elder, reminding us that the stars are our oldest relatives.


Lisa Jackson
Wilfred Buck's Star Stories
Designed for domes and planetariums, this 21-minute XR work brings to life four star stories shared by Ininew (Cree) astronomer and author Wilfred Buck. These stories range from practical to poetic, offering guidance on navigation, seasonal cycles and living well for future generations. WILFRED BUCK'S STAR STORIES shares a rarely heard Indigenous perspective on astronomy and cosmology. The experience features immersive night sky cinematography, cosmic CGI and detailed macro shots of meteorites, all set to a transporting soundtrack. It combines the vastness of the universe with the intimacy of listening to a wise Elder, reminding us that the stars are our oldest relatives.

Wilfred Buck's Star Stories

Lisa Jackson


Mots
AI & Me: The Confessional and AI Ego
‘AI & Me’ is an installation that explores the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence, focusing on judgment, perception, and our openness to machine analysis. Central to the experience is 'The Confessional,' where participants receive blunt AI opinions based on their appearance. 'AI Ego' extends this, showcasing participants "liked" by the machine in surreal, AI-generated scenarios. The installation challenges our comfort with technological judgment while prompting reflection on AI's broader societal implications.


Mots
AI & Me: The Confessional and AI Ego
‘AI & Me’ is an installation that explores the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence, focusing on judgment, perception, and our openness to machine analysis. Central to the experience is 'The Confessional,' where participants receive blunt AI opinions based on their appearance. 'AI Ego' extends this, showcasing participants "liked" by the machine in surreal, AI-generated scenarios. The installation challenges our comfort with technological judgment while prompting reflection on AI's broader societal implications.

AI & Me: The Confessional and AI Ego

Mots


Ondřej Moravec & Victoria Lopukhina
Fragile Home
What would you do when your home appears to be in danger? Since the war began, millions of Ukrainians have faced this question. 'Fragile Home' is an immersive experience in MR that poses this question to each of us. You can experience the transformation of your familiar surroundings into the dwelling of a Ukrainian family. As you navigate through your space, the Ukrainian voices in traditional melodies accompany you, guiding you to your very own memories and feelings associated with your home.


Ondřej Moravec & Victoria Lopukhina
Fragile Home
What would you do when your home appears to be in danger? Since the war began, millions of Ukrainians have faced this question. 'Fragile Home' is an immersive experience in MR that poses this question to each of us. You can experience the transformation of your familiar surroundings into the dwelling of a Ukrainian family. As you navigate through your space, the Ukrainian voices in traditional melodies accompany you, guiding you to your very own memories and feelings associated with your home.

Fragile Home

Brainz Immersive


Smartphone Orchestra
Ancestors
Take a selfie and become the great great grandparent of a human 200 years in the future. Ancestors is an interactive and immersive group experience that will make you profoundly connect with your fellow players ánd with future generations. What kind of world will we leave for future generations? In Ancestors, you’ll embark on a thrilling, collective journey six generations into the future. Guided by your own smartphone, this interactive experience uses AI to create connections between you and others in the room. Together, you’ll explore the challenges of tomorrow, discovering how collaboration is key to shaping a better world. Join this immersive, fun, and thought-provoking adventure that brings people together in an entirely new way!


Smartphone Orchestra
Ancestors
Take a selfie and become the great great grandparent of a human 200 years in the future. Ancestors is an interactive and immersive group experience that will make you profoundly connect with your fellow players ánd with future generations. What kind of world will we leave for future generations? In Ancestors, you’ll embark on a thrilling, collective journey six generations into the future. Guided by your own smartphone, this interactive experience uses AI to create connections between you and others in the room. Together, you’ll explore the challenges of tomorrow, discovering how collaboration is key to shaping a better world. Join this immersive, fun, and thought-provoking adventure that brings people together in an entirely new way!

Ancestors

The Smartphone Orchestra


Novaya
Colored / Noire
An immersion into 1950s Alabama, at the heart of the civil rights struggle. In a specially designed setting, visitors equipped with augmented reality headsets and bone-conduction audio systems are transported to 1950s Alabama. This 32-minute award-winning immersive experience allows them to relive, as if they were there, the courageous act of Claudette Colvin—a 15-year-old girl who, nine months before Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat on a bus.


Novaya
Colored / Noire
An immersion into 1950s Alabama, at the heart of the civil rights struggle. In a specially designed setting, visitors equipped with augmented reality headsets and bone-conduction audio systems are transported to 1950s Alabama. This 32-minute award-winning immersive experience allows them to relive, as if they were there, the courageous act of Claudette Colvin—a 15-year-old girl who, nine months before Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat on a bus.

Colored / Noire

Novaya


Libby Heaney
Heartbreak and Magic
Drawing on Libby Heaney's grief over her sister’s sudden passing, Heartbreak and Magic explores the extra-dimensions of quantum physics as alternative narratives on how we think & feel about the self, life & death. This VR work invites you to connect deeply with your emotions by exploring the meaning of existence & unexpected loss. You can expect a shifting, multilayered story that evokes themes of cyclicity, liminality & the multiverse. Heaney developed the work through an iterative, experimental process involving both physical & digital forms of creativity: movement practice, writing, drawing & painting to bespoke quantum computing code & game engine prototyping. Heartbreak and Magic brings her experimentation with quantum computing into VR for the first time.


Libby Heaney
Heartbreak and Magic
Drawing on Libby Heaney's grief over her sister’s sudden passing, Heartbreak and Magic explores the extra-dimensions of quantum physics as alternative narratives on how we think & feel about the self, life & death. This VR work invites you to connect deeply with your emotions by exploring the meaning of existence & unexpected loss. You can expect a shifting, multilayered story that evokes themes of cyclicity, liminality & the multiverse. Heaney developed the work through an iterative, experimental process involving both physical & digital forms of creativity: movement practice, writing, drawing & painting to bespoke quantum computing code & game engine prototyping. Heartbreak and Magic brings her experimentation with quantum computing into VR for the first time.

Heartbreak and Magic

Libby Heaney Studio Ltd
SHORTLIST COMMITTEE
Ana Brzezinska
Immersive Curator
David Massey
Senior Producer Creative Technology and Storytelling
Ellen Kuo
Head of XR Market, NewImages Festival
Mark Atkin
Director, Crossover Labs
Samantha King
Head of Programme, VIVE Arts
Tom Millen
Director, Crossover Labs
Ana Brzezinska
Immersive Curator
David Massey
Senior Producer Creative Technology and Storytelling
Ellen Kuo
Head of XR Market, NewImages Festival
Mark Atkin
Director, Crossover Labs
Samantha King
Head of Programme, VIVE Arts
Tom Millen
Director, Crossover Labs
NOMINATORS
Ana Brzezinska
Immersive Curator
Asha Easton
Immersive Tech Network Lead, Innovate UK
Avinash Kumar
Co-founder, Quicksand, Unbox, Eyemyth
Blake Kammerdiener
Sr. Manager, Film & TV, XR Programming, SXSW
Carmen Gil Vrolijk
Artistic Director at La Quinta del Lobo
damian kirzner
Director, Mediamorfosis
freya salway
Head of the Google Arts & Culture Lab
Heather Croall AM
Director, Adelaide Fringe
Ingrid Kopp
Director, Labs and Partnerships - Electric South
Irini Papadimitriou
Curator
Jordana Leigh
Vice President, Artistic Programming, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Katsutoshi Machiba
XR Producer
Kent Bye
Producer - Voices of VR Podcast
Liz Rosenthal
Curator, Venice Immersive, Biennale di Venezia & Executive Producer
Luke Kemp
Head of Creative Programme, Immersive, Barbican Centre,
Maitreyi Maheshwari
Head of Programme, FACT Liverpool
Mathieu Gayet
Publishing Director, XRMust
Myriam Achard
Chief New Media Partnerships & PR, Centre Phi
Naomi Johnson
Executive Director, imagineNATIVE
Natasha Greenhalgh
Co-founder and Creative Director, Nxt Museum
Samantha King
Head of Programme, VIVE Arts
Sebox HONG
Founder, BoxLight Infinity Studio
Shari Frilot
Chief Curator, New Frontier at Sundance
Shelley Snyder
UK Curator
Tina Lorenz
Department Lead Artistic Research & Development, ZKM | Karlsruhe
Ulrich Schrauth
Curator / Artistic Director / Advisor
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Annwn Prize?
Who set up the Prize?
How is the Prize funded?
Where does its name come from/ what does it mean?
What is the selection process for The Annwn Prize?
What is the eligibility criteria?
What is the judging process for the winner?
How do I enter?
When is the winner announced?
What will the winner receive?
Is there an exhibition for finalists?
What is the Annwn Prize?
Who set up the Prize?
How is the Prize funded?
Where does its name come from/ what does it mean?
What is the selection process for The Annwn Prize?
What is the eligibility criteria?
What is the judging process for the winner?
How do I enter?
When is the winner announced?
What will the winner receive?
Is there an exhibition for finalists?
What is the Annwn Prize?
Who set up the Prize?
How is the Prize funded?
Where does its name come from/ what does it mean?
What is the selection process for The Annwn Prize?
What is the eligibility criteria?
What is the judging process for the winner?
How do I enter?
When is the winner announced?
What will the winner receive?
Is there an exhibition for finalists?
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