Paris’ NewImages Festival and parent organization Forum des Images have recently launched NewImages Hub, a support network offering XR professionals a set of complementary creative and mentoring programs throughout the year. Divided into three poles, the new lab will help immersive projects across development, production, and distribution, offering residencies and networking assistance at each phase.
Administered by Forum des Images – a non-profit cultural organization subsidized by the City of Paris – and supported by France’s CNC, NewImages Hub will oversee international writing residencies both in Paris and abroad, while developing additional workshops with partners in Taiwan, Chile and South Africa. The new lab will also administer existing programs in Rome, Ecuador and Taipei, while making industry analysis available to all.
“We want to help with questions of distribution at an earlier point,” says Forum des Images digital chief (and NewImages festival director) Michele Ziegler. “The big installations are becoming so expensive, so how does [an artist] break their project down into different versions? And how can we use our network to help that along?”
Looking to trans-disciplinary programs run by Montreal’s Phi Centre, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, and Melbourne’s ACMI for inspiration and example, Ziegler hopes to offer “a service to the industry,” banking on her institution’s non-profit status as a beacon for all to join. “We’re Switzerland,” she says. “We’re neutral, and we want to remain in this neutral position while still shaking things up to get them moving. We have to be more agile.”
As with the annual NewImages Festival (which runs April 5 – 9 this year) Ziegler believes that Forum des Images’ advantageous position within Paris’ busiest hub can lend the new effort some youthful vigor. And so, beginning in September, the Forum des Images will offer spaces where digital artist can test out their development projects in public.
“We have teenagers coming through the Forum des Images [at all times],” says Ziegler. “So let them come test prototypes. [That way] artists can get feedback from real people while developing their projects.”
While this year’s NewImages Festival celebrates the art and artistry the Quebecois immersive industry, Ziegler hopes to eventually push beyond the constraints of a brief snapshot at an annual festival. “The idea is to have long-lasting connections between communities,” she says. “Rather than an annual focus on a specific country, I want to build long-lasting relationships with other continents, to replace an annual panorama with a more stable set of partnerships.”
