ARCADE, MUNCH AND DIGITAL CATAPULT ANNOUNCE INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
In the weeks prior to full lockdown, we were busy finalising the details of a secret and incredibly exciting project run by Digital Catapult, the UK's leading advanced digital innovation centre.
After several months of feverish (and entirely socially distanced) collaboration, we can now finally announce what we've been up to!
We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with MUNCH, the Oslo-based museum that celebrates the life and works of Norway's iconic artist, Edvard Munch.
Together we are developing an AR creativity platform for schools that brings Munch's creative philosophies into the modern era, enabling users to place, edit and share their Munch-inspired works in locations of their choosing across the physical world.
The platform starts with pen and paper but then flips into AR, offering a contemporary, innovative version of the same artistic principles that Munch himself followed, designed to inspire creativity in schools across Norway and potentially beyond.
Arcade's Alex Book said,
During our research for this incredible project we discovered that Arcade shares one of Edvard Munch's core philosophies, of using creativity to connect people to place. Our mediums may differ, but that link was just one reason that we were so thrilled to partner with MUNCH and Digital Catapult to bring this idea to life.
Kids today are more technically savvy than ever,
added Gerd-Elise Mørland, MUNCH Director of Learning,
and we want to address this development by creating an experience that allows its young users to explore creative expression with methods familiar to their digital lives. We are so grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with both Digital Catapult and Arcade on this inspiring project, which is generously supported by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB, Norway.
Jeremy Silver, Digital Catapult CEO, said,
This project addresses the challenges of how to bring a wider sense of Edvard Munch's work and ideas directly to audiences and to do so outside of the traditional bounds of a museum space; that has become even more meaningful during the course of the project. We’re thrilled to be working with MUNCH and one of the UK's leading creative mixed reality studios, ARCADE, and we look forward to seeing the wider impact of this cutting-edge collaboration.
The app is currently being user-tested with groups of students in Norway and development work will continue over the summer. MUNCH is opening a new museum in autumn 2020 with the app ready for download for pilot-groups around the same time.Read the full press release from Digital Catapult here.
