Annwn Prize Unveils Shortlist for Groundbreaking Immersive Storytelling Award
🌀 On Wednesday 12 November, the Annwn Prize – the world’s first global award dedicated to excellence in immersive storytelling – revealed the four works shortlisted for its inaugural edition. From augmented reality to expanded cinema, the selection showcases the boldest and most boundary-pushing creative technology from across the globe.
The shortlisted works will be exhibited at Wales Millennium Centre in May 2026, offering UK audiences a rare chance to experience the very best in immersive storytelling. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Cardiff on Sunday 14 June 2026.
🌍 The Shortlist
The four finalists are:
Colored / Noire – France, Novaya
Set in 1950s Alabama, this augmented reality experience places participants at the heart of the civil rights movement. Equipped with AR headsets and bone-conduction audio, visitors relive the courageous act of Claudette Colvin, who at just 15 refused to give up her bus seat – nine months before Rosa Parks. The committee praised its theatrical finesse, powerful writing, and emotionally resonant use of Extended Reality (XR).
Consensus Gentium – UK, Karen Palmer
This interactive app immerses users in a near-future society governed by surveillance and biased AI. As the protagonist, you navigate a government app to visit your ill Nana, with every facial expression and decision shaping your journey. The committee commended its emotionally charged narrative and urgent exploration of digital citizenship, agency, and resistance.
Constantinopoliad – UK/Greece, Sister Sylvester
A poetic act of collective reading, this expanded cinema piece responds to the archive of Constantine Cavafy. Inspired by the torn pages of his teenage journal, it conjures the ghosts – erotic and historical – that haunt his later poetry. Through touch, sound, and imagery, audiences are invited into the young poet’s imagination as he grapples with creativity and identity.
NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) – USA, Andrew Schneider
In this theatrical installation, participants step into total darkness and become the centre of a shifting constellation. Guided by an unseen narrator, they journey through a matrix of 4,000 reactive LED lights and a 496-channel soundscape. The work was lauded for its technical virtuosity and meditative pacing, inviting reflection on time, presence, and personal meaning.
✨ A New Chapter for Immersive Arts
The Annwn Prize celebrates works that place audiences at the heart of the experience, using technology to transform our sense of reality. Eligible works must have been exhibited between January 2024 and July 2025, and span mediums including AR, branching film, expanded cinema, and interactive installation.
The shortlist was selected by a committee drawn from a wider panel of international curators and commentators, including Mark Atkin (Crossover Labs), Ana Brzezinska (Barbican/Moment Factory), Samantha King (VIVE Arts), Ellen Kuo (Newimages Festival), David Massey (Wales Millennium Centre), and Tom Millen (Crossover Labs).
Launched in 2025 by Wales Millennium Centre and produced with Crossover Labs, the Prize is supported by Peter and Janet Swinburn. The winning artist or studio will receive £20,000 and a bespoke residency to develop new work.
🎙 Voices from the Centre
Graeme Farrow, Chief Creative and Content Officer at Wales Millennium Centre, said:
“Our inaugural shortlist represents exactly what the Annwn Prize was established to celebrate: the pioneering nature of immersive storytelling to resonate with us in new and unique ways.”
The selection committee added:
“The shortlist examines poignant and urgent themes such as social injustice, truth, love, and the very nature of existence… The collection of finalists embodies what the Annwn Prize sets out to celebrate and demonstrates the vast possibilities of the artform itself.”
🧚♂️ What Is Annwn?
Named after the Welsh Otherworld – a realm of dreams and delights – the Annwn Prize aims to elevate immersive storytelling as a vital pillar of cultural expression. It champions pioneering artists and sparks critical dialogue around the future of creative technology.
Wales Millennium Centre continues to lead in this space, having launched Bocs in 2022 – a dedicated venue for XR and immersive experiences – and unveiling plans for a digital-first performance space in 2024.
For more information, visit annwnprize.com
