BRADFORD, ENGLAND: At the immersive arts gathering The Big Thing, Wales Millennium Centre and Crossover Labs have announced the launch of the Annwn Prize, the first global award celebrating excellence in immersive storytelling. Supported by Peter and Janet Swinburn, its inaugural cycle will run 2025-26. The winning artist or studio will be awarded £20,000, along with a bespoke residency to support the development of new work.
“In the past few years, we have seen the coming of age of immersive storytelling as a new global cultural movement, with the power to fire the imagination and expand horizons,” said Graeme Farrow, chief creative and content officer at Wales Millennium Centre, in a statement. “Whilst it has been steadily gaining acclaim, it is high time that this art form had a dedicated platform to showcase excellence and to bring the most innovative work by ambitious creators to the widest possible audience, both in the U.K. and internationally.”
Annwn (pronounced Ahn-wn) is “the Otherworld” in Welsh mythology, a parallel realm of dreams and delights. The prize will celebrate works which demonstrate excellence in compelling storytelling, make audiences feel like an active and integral part of the piece (such as immersive theatre), and use technologies that enhance, augment, or impact our sense of reality, which could include virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and other immersive technologies.
Works will be nominated by international curators and commentators. A short list of four finalists will be chosen by a selection committee, announced in November 2025, and showcased to the public in spring 2026 in an exhibition at Wales Millennium Centre, where a jury will select and announce the winner.
Wales Millennium Centre is Wales’s home for the performing arts in the heart of Cardiff Bay. The Centre is committed to nurturing creativity, supporting emerging artists and telling powerful Welsh stories that resonate with audiences at home and around the world. Crossover Labs are a team of creators and curators on a quest to collaboratively dream the future into existence by colliding cultures in art, storytelling, and technology, through productions, curation, and development labs. The Big Thing is Immersive Art’s annual gathering, bringing together artists, producers, technologists, researchers, and the wider ecosystem of venues, distributors, curators, and funders from the U.K. and beyond.
