XTREME

XTREME aims to redefine how audiences experience and engage with art through mixed reality, through a narrative journey that fuses music, poetry, objects and visuals.

A person sits with their back to the camera in a beanbag chair on the floor. The room is lit so that the floor appears red. On the wall in front of the person is an image of a large, open mouth with red lips and white teeth. Photograph.

Photo: X Blindt, Munchmuseet

At MUNCH, artists Silvana Imam and Paula Strunden collaborate with researchers and technologists to explore how mixed reality can transform the experience of art, sound and space. As part of the Horizon Europe project XTREME, the museum functions as a living laboratory where artistic experimentation is developed, tested with audiences and examined as research in dialogue. MUNCH is one of 14 European partners in the project.

Unlike virtual reality (VR), which replaces the physical world, mixed reality (MR) expands it – layering sound, image and performative presence, by merging the digital with the physical environment.  
  


The commissioned work blends spatial sound, XR environments and collaborative storytelling, with young adults involved in testing and co-development through MUNCH Ung. The first on-site prototype was tested in Oslo in October 2025, focusing on the relationship between spatial audio, immersive visuals and audience positioning. Insights from these sessions are informing the next iteration, to be presented at MUNCH in May 2026.  
  


Through this process, XTREME investigates new formats for performance, new modes of audience participation and new methodologies for artistic research in museums, while contributing to broader questions of accessibility and engagement.  

XTREME is an EU-funded project as part of Horizon Europe.  Read more about the project. 
   


“XTREME – Mixed Reality Environment for Immersive Experience of Art and Culture” is an EU-funded project  which started in January 2024 and runs until December 2026. The project is financed via Horizon Europe: grant agreement No. 101136006.