XR - Paris, Vancouver

 A cross-residency program between Paris and Vancouver for immersive creators

The XR Residency is a cross-residency program for immersive creation launched by the Institut français du Canada, in partnership with Emily Carr University of Art + Design, the Centre for Digital Media and the Vancouver Alliance française, and the Forum des images/NewImages Hub in Paris. This bi-national program is part of the “Résidences Ouest-Ouest” initiative, launched to strengthen artistic exchanges between France and Western Canada.

The residency consists of 2 complementary components:

• A component in Vancouver in the fall, titled XR Fall;
• A component in Paris in the spring, titled Paris XR Residency.

XR Fall – Vancouver (Canada)

Launched in 2022 by the Embassy of France to Canada and the Institut français du Canada, and organized since 2025 in partnership with the Forum des images/NewImages Hub, Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECUAD), the Centre for Digital Media (CDM), and the Vancouver Alliance française, the XR Fall residency takes place every fall in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

It is part of a major event dedicated to immersive realities in Vancouver that is made up of 3 components:

• An immersive creation residency
• A public exhibition: V-Unframed at the Vancouver Alliance française
• Delegations and professional meetings

This program is open to all immersive realities (XR/VR/AR).

Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECUAD), through its Basically Good Media Lab (BGML), and the Centre for Digital Media (CDM), a graduate institution dedicated to digital media, both located in Vancouver's Creative District, offer the selected artist a space for reflection and work. The artist will have access to local researchers, creators, and students, and will therefore be able to develop a project and use the systems, equipment, and software they need to do so.

During the residency, the selected artist will:

• develop an XR project in the drafting, research, or prototyping phase;

• collaborate with Vancouver professionals, as well as local technical teams and production companies, professors, and researchers from ECUAD and the CDM; 

• participate in educational activities (conferences, panels, critiques, informal mentoring);

• discover Western Canada's digital ecosystem and forge lasting professional relationships.

Paris XR Residency – Paris (France)

Launched in 2025 by the Institut français du Canada and the Forum des Images/New Images Hub (a digital creation hub based in Paris), the Paris XR Residency, dedicated to immersive realities, takes place in the spring in Paris, France.

The program is open to creators of all types of extended reality projects who reside in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon or the Northwest Territories who wish to develop a prototype for an immersive project and dive deep into in the French XR and cultural ecosystem in order to enrich the development of their project and expand their professional network. 

The resident will:

• develop an XR prototype and test it with different audiences;
• participate in the NewImages festival and take part in networking events during the festival's XR Market and Industry Days;
• meet various key players in the Parisian sector, such as production and distribution studios, other creators, museums, galleries, etc.;
• participate in educational activities (conferences, panels, critiques, informal mentoring).