UWC’s inclusion in the Futures_Past initiative reflects its growing role in collaborative heritage, research and digital innovation. Image: Shelley Christians/UWCThe University of the Western Cape (UWC) is proud to announce its involvement in Futures_Past: Amplifying Memory with Immersive Technologies. This is an international initiative that brings Southern African archives to life through virtual and augmented reality, spatial audio and interactive exhibition design.
The project is organised by the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) in partnership with Electric South and several cultural and archival institutions across the region. It is supported by the Embassy of France in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi, and funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Running from July 2025 to March 2027, Futures_Past pairs creative teams with six significant archives in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi. Over the next year, these teams will transform historical collections into immersive public experiences, opening to audiences between September and December 2026.
UWC’s involvement contributes to strengthening research, creativity and public engagement with heritage. The project aligns with the University’s commitment to expanding access to knowledge, supporting innovative storytelling, and ensuring that Southern African histories are preserved, reinterpreted and shared with wider audiences.
The UWC team will collaborate with Iziko Museums of South Africa in Cape Town. The creative team will work with archival material for Iziko’s upcoming Amanzi eAfrica exhibition to develop an immersive project exploring water as a cultural, spiritual and environmental force. Drawing on archival sources, oral histories and ecological research, the project will invite audiences to engage with multiple perspectives on water, past and present. The team is led by Creative Director Sarah Summers (currently registered for her PhD through UWC’s Centre for Humanities Research), Laurent de Laroche Souvestre (UWC’s Immersive Zone’s (UIZ’s) internationally experienced immersive producer), Kyle Marais (UIZ’s talented immersive technologist with an MSc in Computer Science), Reilly Cloete (trainee assistant producer, graduating from CPUT’s Film School in April) and Dr Laurine Platzky (Co-ordinator of UIZ).
"We feel so privileged and hugely excited to have been selected to work as a team on this critically important topic of water with Iziko Museums of South Africa. Not only is this a first for the Immersive Zone to be producing an immersive experience for local and international audiences, but to be led by the remarkable young immersive artist Sarah Summers, while mentoring emerging talent and professionalism in Reilly Cloete. This is such an honour and an affirmation of our role in creating experiences through immersive technologies.”
As the production hub, UWC’s Immersive Zone is integral to this initiative. Since beginning operations in 2023 as part of the UWC Innovation Hub, the UIZ has already become a vibrant ecosystem where academia and industry meet, encouraging innovative and immersive approaches to learning and teaching, skills development, and the commercialisation of research and new technologies to improve global conditions.
Through collaborations with artists, technologists, archivists and cultural practitioners, Futures_Past creates new opportunities for community participation, professional development and international exchange.
The initiative also includes a structured training programme for emerging producers, equipping the next generation with the skills to work at the intersection of archives, technology and culture.
UWC is honoured to support a project that turns archives into dynamic spaces of experience and imagination, enabling communities not only to appreciate history, but also to actively engage in a sensory, memorable experience.
