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Immersive Experience, 2025

Centre Film Festival Virtual Reality Showcase

Founder, Curator & Experience Designer Diane Akpovwa

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I programmed and curated the first-ever Immersive Showcase for the 2025 Centre Film Festival, establishing a new partnership with the Palmer Museum of Art and presenting a selection of XR works that foster empathy, cross-cultural understanding, and reflection across generations and digital proficiencies.

 

By integrating immersive media into the festival’s broader cultural programming, the showcase increased general festival attendance by more than 30% compared to previous years.

VR Showcase at Palmer Museum

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As the initiative’s lead curator and VR specialist, I developed a festival experience from the ground up, sourcing XR films, building relationships with creators, and collaborating with local partners to realize a multidisciplinary exhibition.

The showcase explored the intersection of cinema, immersive technology, and the visual arts, positioning XR as a powerful tool for cultural engagement within a museum setting.

Designing for Dialogue

This event was connection-centered, creating a fertile environment to explore intimate inner worlds and urgent global realities using intentional spatial design and curated conversation prompts.

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Each film was paired with an artwork on view at the Palmer Museum of Art, along with question prompts for a round-table discussion aimed at bridging experience gaps and deepening personal reflection​.

6 films.
6 artworks.
12 questions.
A community in conversation.

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Hover over cards to reveal prompts.

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Read more about the Experience.

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Links to Article

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