Arts and Creative Industries / Digital Arts / Futures_Past conversations and immersive works coming to Fak’ugesi 2026

Futures_Past conversations and immersive works coming to Fak’ugesi 2026

Arts and Creative Industries
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5 October

As part of the French Institute of South Africa’s participation in Fak’ugesi Festival 2026, the Futures_Past team will present two panel discussions and an interactive showcase bringing together research, archive collaboration and five immersive productions.

Panel: Archives, Storytelling and Community Collaboration (14 October | 11h00-12h00)
Join Futures_Past producers, archive partners and project team members for a discussion on the practical and ethical questions involved in working with creativity, archives and communities. The conversation will consider whose stories are represented, who helps shape them and how collaborative methods can respond to the needs of different partners.

Panel: Mapping Digital and Immersive Storytelling Practices (14 October | 14h15-15h45)
Join the Futures_Past research team, in-country researchers and policy advisers for the launch of the programme’s regional mapping study. Following a presentation of its key findings, the panel will examine current trends, opportunities and challenges in digital and immersive storytelling across South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi.

Experience Futures_Past at our Fak’ugesi Festival booth (14-17 October)

The Futures_Past booth will present an experience from five productions, bringing together completed elements and works still in development. Visitors can experience virtual reality from Kings of Lesotho: The Succession Story and To All Who Live In It; contribute to the Acts of Care poster-making station; encounter a Pepper’s Ghost installation from We Are What Remains; and view a work-in-progress activation from Lucid Dreams of Sweet Water.

Book tickets for the Fak’ugesi African Digital & Innovation Festival here.

Futures_Past is a two-year regional programme initiated by the Embassy of France in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi and IFAS, implemented in partnership with Electric South and funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

 

Image credit: Left: Acts of Care poster-making session during the exhibition opening at Latitudes Centre for the Arts. Credit: Adam Heyns. Right: Experiencing Kings of Lesotho – The Succession Story during the exhibition launch at the Alliance Française de Maseru. Credit: Prism Frames Co 

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