Media Cymru showcases an immersive world of Welsh creative innovation at the UK’s most visited cultural attraction

Welsh creative innovation has taken centre stage at Outernet London, the UK’s most visited cultural attraction, as Media Cymru launches its 2026 showcase year premiering immersive Welsh works across vast digital screens.

The premieres placed North Wales studios ATXR and CreuTech Ltd at the heart of one of the most technologically advanced real time media environments in the world.

Projects from both studios were developed through Media Cymru’s Outernet Challenge Fund, which was created to push creators to harness the venue’s technological capabilities while amplifying the identity and future of Welsh creative innovation.

Media Cymru’s 2026 Showcase launch event was attended by the Secretary of State for Wales alongside leading figures from across the Welsh and UK creative sector.

Opening the showcase, Professor Sara Pepper, Co-Director of Media Cymru, framed the programme’s progress through the principle of “doing the little things”.

“We are creating the conditions where Welsh creativity does not just participate in global innovation, it leads it. Media Cymru is proof that when a community of creatives commits to doing the little things well, backing each other, experimenting, collaborating and investing in ideas those actions build into something transformational.”

She continued by encouraging guests to:

“Find brilliant people. Fund great ideas. Build partnerships that push boundaries. Then showcase that creativity to the world. What you are seeing here is Welsh innovation commanding one of the most powerful digital stages anywhere.”

This message was exemplified by the two works debuted across the immense screens of the Outernet’s Now Building.

ATXR’s Awen Unbound takes audiences on a journey from containment to creative liberation. Powered by real Welsh environmental data and music generated by plants, the experience combines light, sound and audience interaction to create a living digital landscape across the NOW Building’s immersive screens.

Following the premier, ATXR managing director, Anna Burke, said:

“It is surreal to bring our work to Outernet London – it really does make you feel so connected with the other creatives that are here, and it’s just fantastic.

“Media Cymru funding gave us the ability to just create. It was really nice to use our experience and creativeness to do something for ourselves.

“The concept of our immersive experience is connecting nature with technology. We really wanted people to be able to use our technology to connect with what we see on a daily basis, with the beautiful nature of Wales. It’s amazing to see it at this scale, but what I loved most was looking at everybody experiencing it for the first time, seeing how everybody was interacting, that was perfect.”

CreuTech’s Artio reimagines Arthurian legend through an ecological and feminist lens. Using gesture recognition, generative visuals and original music, audiences co-create a living myth in real time, presented in both English and Welsh.

Klaire Tanner, founder and creative director, said:

“Media Cymru’s innovation support hasn’t just shaped this project, it’s shaped my entire career for the last three years leading up to today.

“We felt it was imperative to tell this story now, with climate change and everything that’s going on in the world, this is a way of telling that story without being too in your face.

“Working at this scale at Outernet London means everything to us. It’s our chance to branch out, get out to the rest of the world, and show what we’re capable of. I’m hoping this is just the start of something massive.”

The showcase signals the start of a year of activity that will culminate in PLAYBACK, Media Cymru’s flagship festival of creativity and innovation in Cardiff.

Closing the event, Professor Pepper issued a clear invitation to industry leaders.

“If you take one message away, let it be this. The creatives of Wales are a force. When we commit to doing the little things consistently and collaboratively, we build something that can stand on any stage in the world.”