French immersive arts expert visits South Africa and Malawi for Futures_Past project

In February 2026, the Futures_Past Research Team completed their final fieldwork leg in Cape Town and Malawi, building on earlier engagements in Lesotho and Johannesburg. Joining the team was French expert Emma Genet from Lucid Realities (a Paris-based XR studio), offering valuable comparative insights from the European immersive arts context.

Genets visit formed part of the project’s research and sector-mapping phase, contributing expertise on immersive arts, heritage and policy in Southern Africa. During her time in Cape Town and Malawi, Genet joined the Futures_Past team for stakeholder meetings, site visits and focus groups with artists, cultural organisations and institutions working with XR and related technologies. These exchanges will inform the project’s forthcoming sector mapping study and policy recommendations aimed at strengthening immersive creation and archive activation in the region.

Futures_Past: Amplifying Memory with Immersive Technologies is an initiative of the Embassy of France in South Africa, Lesotho, and Malawi and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) in partnership with Electric South. This project is made possible thanks to funding from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.