Performance and XR Conference (PXR)is back, hosted by Single Thread Theatre Company and Electric Company Theatre!
PXR2021 is a series of interactive presentations and discussions by Canadian and International artists and digital content creators, exploring how virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality (collectively known as XR) are integrated into the creation of live performance.
TO REGISTER FOR PXR 2021
Early bird registration is open now until September 30th, 2021.
25 Tickets are available for $75 (Regular $85)
*Independent Artsworker and Student rates will be available closer to the event.
PROUDLY PRESENTED BY
Single Thread Theatre Company (Kingston) and Electric Company Theatre (Vancouver) present the Performance and XR Conference 2021 (PXR2021). Now in its second year, PXR is a series of interactive presentations and discussions by Canadian artists and digital content creators on how they are using virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (collectively known as XR) in the creation of live performance.
This year the Conference will be held from November 13th to the 20th. The upcoming conference will build on the groundbreaking success of PXR2020, an event which took place over two weekends and brought together over two hundred artists, administrators, academics, and technologists from diverse backgrounds across Canada on the virtual reality platform, AltspaceVR. This event was the very first initiative of its kind in Canada resulting in numerous new partnerships between artists and increased awareness of XR. PXR2020 also provided fifty artists across Canada with Oculus Quest headsets, created a new model for digital convening, and notably included attendees from Canada’s northern territories, who ordinarily would be prevented from attending by prohibitive flight costs.
In 2020 this event brought Canada international attention around virtual reality, with attendance from journalists, artists, and technicians from the UK, the United States, and Australia, including leaders in the XR field such as Yelena Rachitsky, Casey Koyczan, and Catherine Bourgeois.
The PXR2021 Conference expands on this successful foundation, prioritizing interactive, experiential presentations which innovate across the broad scope of mixed reality, building on the strengths of gathering in VR and designing spaces and experiences which optimize the content and the medium. Presenters for this year’s Conference include renowned Inuk artist Nyla Innuksuk, podcaster and experimental journalist Kent Bye, and novelist, playwright, and director Jordan Tannahill.
PXR is designed to provide creators in the field of performance (dance music, theatre) who have made forays into creating art with XR with the opportunity to learn more from the artists who have made XR their focus and the technologists who build the virtual worlds. Attendees may include representatives from companies across Canada, artists who have made work with XR their focus, and members of the booming gaming and tech industry. Speakers will talk about this emerging new model of working in XR through best practices in acquisition, reaching audiences, their creation process, and more. Attendees are able to engage in the Conference by accessing AltspaceVR either using a compatible virtual reality headset or in 2D mode on a computer. The Performance and XR 2021 Conference is being presented with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts ‘Supporting Artistic Practice: – Sector Innovation and Development and the Digital Strategy Fund.
PXR RETURNS WITH TWO FELLOWSHIPS SUPPORTING IBPOC CREATORS
This year PXR will renew its commitment to IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, People of Colour) artists, expanding upon the initial fellowship offered in 2020. This year the IBPOC Fellowship will include a free Oculus Quest headset, an honorarium, mentorship and project development, and full access to the PXR Conference. Last year, PXR awarded fellowships to Camille Turner and Raven John. In addition, the Conference is thrilled to partner with Creative Lab North to offer the inaugural Northern Fellowship. Launching alongside the IBPOC Fellowship, this novel program will support the development of Northern Indigenous content, offering two creators free access to the Performance and XR Conference, as well as an Oculus Quest 2 Headset, mentorship, and support for their XR creations. This Fellowship has been created to combat the limited access artists have to digital infrastructure in the northern territories. With an emphasis on interconnectivity, the goal of the initiative is to connect northern artists to a growing community of digital art-makers, and foster wide-reaching, cross-Canada collaboration and thought exchange.
More information on this year’s conference can be found at www.performanceandxr.com.
PXR 2021 would not have been possible without the generous production support of:
Stratford Theatre Festival, and the generosity of Electric Company Theatre’s individual donors. Thank you.