CRAIC is developing a new programme area which aims to provide a forum for research and debate on creative R&D and innovation in live experiences and festivals as they emerge from pandemic interruption. This topic area builds, in particular, on the success of the two Creative Industries Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programmes – Audience of the Future and Creative Industries Clusters – supporting innovative collaborations between digital businesses and the cultural and creative sectors while also actively involving creative practitioners in the very process of research.
CRAIC has already published essays in this area – in particular on changing audience perceptions and experience of online experiences and activities (and, indeed, there is a podcast on the experience of using technology to bring a performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘Dream’ to life during the pandemic).
Work will focus in the first instance on Festivals, with a particular interest in the initiatives and experiences which make up Unboxed. We are also developing a partnership with the V&A Research Institute, including organising a programme of workshops and publishing a set of material on collecting and archiving immersive experiences.
The first essay is from Dr Lora Markova, a researcher at CRAIC, introducing some of the themes and challenges to be explored through this work.
Current work is focused on archiving and re-purposing immersive experiences. This essay was prepared to support a set of collaborative discussions run with the V&A and UKRI. This Deck summarises a small seminar recently organised on this theme.