At this year’s CPH:DOX, the Eurimages New Lab Award for Innovation, worth €20,000, went to the CPH:LAB project A Sanctuary of Stuff, helmed by Francesca Tremulo and Eszter Várhidi (see the news). The Innovation Award is bestowed upon the best innovative or experimental project in development. We reached out to the two creators, who shared some insights into their latest work and its current status.

Cineuropa: How would you describe the concept of A Sanctuary of Stuff, and what are the main themes tackled in the project?
Francesca Tremulo: A Sanctuary of Stuff is a digital museum focused on putting premade assets used in video games under the spotlight, taking them out of the chaos and anonymity of digital stores. The project stands on two main pillars: first, highlighting premade assets as fundamental building blocks of contemporary video-game making; secondly, documenting game makers’ relationship with these widely used assets to showcase this corner of our culture. Our goal is to make our visitors reconsider and think deeply about the role that these digital objects fulfil.

Eszter Várhidi: This is a co-creative effort. In order to faithfully reflect the diversity of video-game making, we are collaborating with artists, game developers, academics and all sorts of game-industry people from various backgrounds and with different levels of experience. We ask the same of all of them: to choose an asset and tell us a story about it, whether it’s about loving it or hating it, or just about the reason why they think it should be in a museum. We then create a room dedicated to each of them, featuring a video or audio track of the story.

How will you use the prize money you have won?
FT: This prize enables us to take our project to the next level, as it will cover part of our development costs and therefore allow us to build a much bigger prototype with more rooms, do more research and tell new stories. We still need additional funding to spend on other expenses like marketing and distribution, but it’s an amazing start!

How important do you think your participation in CPH:DOX was, overall?
EV: Our project really kicked off when we were admitted to CPH:LAB. The knowledge, tools and structure that the programme provided were essential to shaping our concept. Then, the festival itself was an amazing opportunity to showcase our prototype and hear the thoughts of industry professionals. Overall, we’re really grateful for all of the support we received from the mentors, organisers and our fellow lab participants.

FT: I would say attending CPH:LAB was fundamental for the project, as it introduced us to the overarching XR world and market. Coming from the video-game field, we’re accustomed to a completely different production and distribution process, and it was encouraging to discover that our project can have a future in venues and festivals focusing on interactive digital art, rather than just in the gaming landscape. The whole experience was eye-opening, to say the least.

What can you tell us about the visual concept and the research work you’re conducting for the project?
EV: We spent some time looking for inspiration by exploring similar projects: The Zium Society’s work for its approach to digital exhibits, the Kid Amnesia Exhibition as an example of an archive with breath-taking aesthetics, and The Beginner’s Guide for its storytelling and design methods.

FT: While we use the word “museum” to describe A Sanctuary of Stuff, we’re not really making a traditional museum-like space. We’re taking advantage of the freedom that our medium gives us as much as possible and building rooms that couldn’t exist in a physical museum. Some are more dreamy, some reference the early internet aesthetics, and they all feature some kind of architectural quirks.

What kinds of partners are you looking for?
FT: We would love to partner with asset stores, as they are the main players when it comes to gathering and selling digital assets, so it would be great to include them. It would be amazing if we could start a wave of curiosity and appreciation for premade assets. We will also submit the project to new festivals and reach out to museums, galleries and other cultural institutions, as we think it’s important that the project reaches audiences beyond the game industry.

What’s next for you?
EV: First, we have to reflect on our experience in the lab and go through the feedback we gathered.

FT: And we’re already in contact with potential partners, so we will follow up with them.

EV: True, and we also need to look for more guest curators. Researching and constantly being on the lookout for new assets and stories will be the priority in the next few months of development.

Do you know when the project will be ready?
EV: It’s hard to give a precise estimate, as we are still looking for additional funds and partnerships that would shape our process, but one or two years of development is what we are currently planning.