FRENCH
VR WEEK 2026

Over the past decade, immersive technologies have changed how artists work with images, sound and space, and how audiences encounter their work. AI is accelerating these changes: producing and transforming content is becoming easier, while questions of authorship, interpretation and respect for original material become more important.

But the ability to create more does not mean that an audience has more time to experience it. We move between messages, feeds and screens, often leaving one thing before we have properly encountered it. For me, this makes VR particularly relevant. A headset sets aside many competing sources of information and asks us to stay with one work. It does not guarantee our attention; the work still has to earn it.

This year’s programme brings together different ways of doing that. Some works take us inside a painting or an architectural space. Others use interaction, sound or personal testimony to shape our experience. The French selection, made accessible through the Institut français, is the starting point. European cultural heritage and projects connected to Serbia place these works in a wider conversation.

We have also included a family programme, because an introduction to immersive art can begin with an engaging story and a shared visit. Continuing the exhibition in Niš and Novi Pazar is equally important: these encounters should not be limited to audiences in the capital.

I want visitors to remember the works, not simply the equipment used to show them, and creators to find something here that informs their own practice.