The Arts Councils of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland and the Arts and Humanities Research Council are joining forces to create XRtists, a £6 million, 3-year programme to develop skills and funding opportunities in immersive content production across the UK’s cultural sector.
The partners have today launched a call inviting applications from consortia of universities, independent research organisations, cultural organisations and creative businesses to deliver the programme From 2024, the successful consortium will offer training programmes and funding opportunities in immersive content production for artists and cultural organisations. An annual industry showcase will support the ongoing development and distribution of the work produced.
The consortium will also carry out research to help maximise the potential of the projects they fund, which may include studying new business models for immersive content, providing insights into immersive audience behaviours, or exploring innovative ways to distribute immersive projects.
The programme will have a presence in each UK nation and will focus on making sure that people from all backgrounds can take part in immersive digital production, or can enjoy the benefits of immersive technology as audiences.
XRtists will build on the success of previous programmes such as CreativeXR and Creative Industries Clusters, which showed the positive impacts of collaborations between cultural organisations, creative technologists and university-based researchers.
Creative Scotland’s Creative Industries Manager, Morgan Petrie said: “We're delighted to be working with our UK partners to support the adoption and implementation of immersive technologies within the creative industries in Scotland. We anticipate the XRtists programme will provide creative businesses and performing arts organisations an opportunity to experiment, to develop new ways to reach audiences, and potentially generate additional revenue.”
AHRC Executive Chair, Professor Christopher Smith, said: “Creative technology is a vital ingredient in the UK’s flourishing creative industries sector and is changing all the time. AHRC is committed to ensuring that this technology can reach widely and deeply across the UK and we are thrilled to partner with the Arts Councils of all four nations to support a creative United Kingdom.
“XRtists will build on previous investments to unlock further innovation and economic growth and will bring the power of immersive technology to new audiences and partners.”
Find more information on XRtists and how consortiums can apply to deliver the programme.
Background
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. From 2023 to 2026 we will invest over £440 million of public money from Government and an estimated £93 million from The National Lottery each year to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, funds internationally outstanding independent researchers across the whole range of the arts and humanities: history, archaeology, digital content, philosophy, languages and literature, design, heritage, area studies, the creative and performing arts, and much more. The quality and range of research supported by AHRC works for the good of UK society and culture and contributes both to UK economic success and to the culture and welfare of societies across the globe.
Media contacts
Nathan Dean, Communications Officer at Arts Council England
[email protected] / 07872 416 691