VXR festival draws crowds in Lahore ahead of Islamabad programme

LAHORE: The Lahore edition of the Virtual and Extended Reality (VXR) Festival concluded at Beaconhouse National University (BNU) on November 11 bringing together artists students researchers and members of the public to explore the relationship between art technology and digital culture.

The four-day festival featured immersive artworks and contributions from Pakistani and international artists across several venues in the city. Following its conclusion in Lahore VXR will move to Islamabad where the next edition is scheduled to begin on November 13.

As part of the festival’s third-day programme, the National College of Arts (NCA) hosted an artist talk featuring international artists and researchers Lola Zoido, Marie Lienhard and Sandrine Deumier.

The session provided students and faculty with an opportunity to engage directly with the visiting artists and learn about their creative approaches to emerging technologies and contemporary digital art. The artists also visited studios and interacted with students.

Madrid-based researcher Lola Zoido explores the connections between images, technology and memory. Stuttgart-based artist Marie Lienhard works across installation, virtual reality, performance, photography and drawing, examining the limits of physical reality. Meanwhile, multidisciplinary artist Sandrine Deumier combines performance, poetry and video art to explore post-futurist ideas and digital imaginaries.

The festival’s closing programme at BNU attracted students, faculty members and visitors, highlighting public interest in immersive and extended reality experiences.

Festival Director Dr Najam Ul Assar said the strong turnout demonstrated that Lahore already had an audience for this form of artistic expression. He added that VXR was designed to move between locations and engage with different communities.

VXR Production Director Umair Mushtaq also highlighted the public response saying the festival had created a shared platform for technology, art and audiences.

The Islamabad programme will run from November 13 to 15 featuring between the Prompts v2 at Alliance Française d’Islamabad alongside activities at NCA Rawalpindi and the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).

Alliance Française d’Islamabad Director Tulin Khalid said the festival and Novembre Numérique aimed to bring audiences closer to the intersection of technology, human imagination and creativity.

The Lahore edition, titled Between the Prompts, presented works by Pakistani and international artists at four venues: Alliance Française de Lahore, HAAM Gallery, NCA and BNU.

The 2026 Pakistan edition is part of Novembre Numérique and is supported by the Embassy of France in Pakistan, Institut français, Alliance Française institutions in Lahore and Islamabad, and the Embassy of Spain in Pakistan with support from UNESCO.