The AURORA XR School for Artists is a project of the Research and Further Education Centre for Culture and Informatics (FKI) at HTW – University of Applied Sciences Berlin.
The project offers a combination of practice- and demand-oriented courses on XR technologies (augmented, mixed and virtual reality) for the independent cultural scene and the cultural and creative industries in Berlin.
Its program includes training in XR and digital media production for beginners and advanced users, the collaborative development and visualization of innovative XR cultural applications, and regular XR Art & Networking events.
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is funding these goals from 2023 to 2025 as part of the project »HERA – Handlungs- und Lernräume für Extended-Reality-Angebote mit der freien Kulturszene« within the program »Strengthening the Potential for Innovation in Culture III« (INP-III).
The AURORA XR School for Artists thus extends the program of the AURORA School for ARtists, which was funded by the ERDF within INP-II in 2018-2022.
INITIAL SITUATION IN THE CREATIVE SECTOR
Due to the shift of human reality into the digital world ever since the 1980s, the analogue world of immediate experiences is no longer the only location and object of creative encounters.
In the context of progressing digitalization, more and more artists are interested in extended reality (XR) technologies (virtual, mixed, and augmented reality). The public space, stages, cultural property or classic media: they can all serve as potential projection surfaces for digital content or have extensions and counterparts in virtual space.
Extended reality can add new dimensions to existing works, it implies new possibilities of artistic expression and infinite spaces that want to be played with. Additionally, art is able to reach a broader audience by using those new opportunities of interactive and playful experiences. As a result of this, acceptance and reach are heightened.
The preparation of media for this cutting-edge technology is still rather complex due to it gaining popularity only in recent years.
This is exactly where the AURORA XR School for Artists jumps into the game.
From 2023 to 2025 we will be offering art and culture professionals from the independent scene, interpreters and employees of independent companies in the cultural and creative industries trainings in extended reality and digital media production. This program primarily addresses Berliners with and without previous knowledge and is offered once a year (in German). For more information on the trainings, please follow this link.
In addition, we support our target group in networking on XR and forming interdisciplinary teams for their own XR projects. For this purpose, we organize a wonderful XR Art & Networking Event every year.
Last but not least, an annual Open Call helps us to select a promising artistic concept with XR, to fine-tune the concept , to implement and finally to present it in close collaboration with our interdisciplinary team of XR specialists.
Target group
The training offered in the context of the XR School for Artists addresses art and culture professionals, interpreters as well as employees of small companies in the cultural and creative industry, especially from the following areas:
Visual arts,
Performing arts,
Design,
Photography,
Music,
Literature,
Video art.
Funding
As a brand of the project »HERA – Handlungs- und Lernräume für Extended-Reality-Angebote mit der freien Kulturszene«, AURORA XR School for Artists receives funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the »Program for Strengthening Innovation Potential in Culture III« (INP-III) from 2023 to 2025 with kind support of the Senate Department for Culture and Community.