UK studio Hatsumi's Soul Paint wins XR experience competition at SXSW 2024
British Underground are delighted to announce that UK studio Hatsumi's project Soul Paint has won the XR experience competition at this year’s SXSW.
Soul Paint, which was written by Hatsumi founder Sarah Ticho, co-directed by Sarah Ticho and Niki Smit, co-produced by Anna Firbank and Monobanda with Liz Rosenthal as Executive Producer, was presented as part of the UK’s 2024 Future Art and Culture programme within SXSW’s international festival of tech and innovation.
“Words cannot express how overjoyed we are to have been presented with the XR experience award”, says Sarah Ticho. “Soul Paint, was inspired by my personal experience of grief and navigating to the mental health system. It feels worlds apart from where we are now. It’s been a privilege to work with such an incredible team, including Liz Rosenthal, Anna Firbank, Niki Smit and Rosario Dawson, who deeply understood the goals of the experience”.
(left to right) Anna Firbank, Sarah Ticho and Niki Smit at SXSW 24
Hatsumi is a design studio that explores how the arts, our brains and bodies collide. Soul Paint exists at the nexus of immersive technology, neuroaesthetics and healthcare to explore the richness of the embodied human experience. Audiences are taken on an embodied journey to explore and creatively express feelings of emotion and sensations in the body. “Through blending technology, wellbeing and storytelling, our hope with Soul Paint was to create a new and beautiful form of self-expression, to create a way to better understand ourselves and to express complex emotions when words are not enough,” says Liz Rosenthal. “It's such a privilege to see the work succeed as it debuts on the world stage”.
Soul Paint is designed to transform the way we communicate lived experience with others, remove the stigma around mental health, and trigger impactful conversations by creating a shared experience in public spaces worldwide. SoulPaint will ultimately provide a tool that will be brought into health and social care settings to empower patients to communicate, track and understand their own experience.
British Underground’s Founder Crispin Parry says", “We are delighted to have presented the world premiere of Hatsumi's innovative project Soul Paint at South by Southwest this year, and even more delighted that its innovation and future potential has been recognised through the 2024 XR Experience Special Jury Award”.
“From AI to Quantum Computing, art leads the way in helping us understand the power and potential of new digital technologies”, says Crispin, “Thanks to the continued support of Arts Council England and partnership from the British Council, we have been able to showcase a significant number of UK artists, producers and participants as part of the Future Art and Culture programme this year. We are so proud to have this pioneering project recognised on the world stage”.
Future Art and Culture is produced by British Underground and Arts Council England with partnership support from the British Council.
Soul Paint is funded by the Dutch Film Fund, Creative Industry Incentive Fund (Stimuleringsfonds Fond), Unity for Humanity, StoryFutures, CreativeXR - Arts Council England & Digital Catapult, British Film Institute (BFI), British Council and the British Underground.
