Immersive Civil Rights experience Colored (Noire) wins inaugural Annwn Prize

Photo: Ben Birchall

Colored (Noire) by Novaya has today been announced as the inaugural winner of the Annwn Prize in a ceremony at Wales Millennium Centre hosted by broadcaster Alex Jones. The winner was announced by Chair of Judges Peter Swinburn and awarded £20,000, alongside a bespoke residency to support the development of new work.

The jury congratulated all four shortlisted artists for their ambition, originality and innovative approaches to storytelling, reflecting the breadth and global reach of immersive, story-driven work today. 

The jury awarded the prize to Colored (Noire) by Novaya, created by Pierre-Alain Giraud, Stéphane Foenkinos and Tania De Montaigne, who blend live arts, digital storytelling and cutting-edge technology to create narrative-driven augmented reality works. The jury commended the work’s powerful emotional impact, extraordinary technical precision, and its ability to place audiences within the story.

Colored (Noire) is an immersive augmented reality (AR) experience that transports audiences to 1950s Alabama at the heart of the civil rights movement. Equipped with AR headsets and bone-conduction audio, participants step into the story as observers - able to choose their proximity and perspective, not to change history, but to decide how they witness it unfold.

The experience relives the courageous act of 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, who nine months before Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat on a bus. Shortly before her passing earlier this year, Colvin shared a message with the artists that resonates throughout the work: “Wherever you are, never give up and always fight back.”

The Annwn Prize is the first global award celebrating excellence in immersive storytelling, recognising works that place audiences at the centre of the narrative and push the boundaries of how stories are experienced. 

Chaired by Wales Millennium Centre’s Chairman, Peter Swinburn, the members of the Annwn Prize 2026 jury are artist, filmmaker and musician Larry Achiampong; critic and writer Arifa Akbar; culture and creative industries leader Sir Peter Bazalgette; musician and community builder Charlotte Church and writer-director Charlotte Regan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIMJhbpx6Xo

Peter Swinburn, chair of judges, said: 

Colored (Noire) is a work that stays with you - a story about the heart and its consequences that we could not stop thinking about long after experiencing it. Through an extraordinary use of technical detail, the work places you alongside the characters, allowing you to walk with them and witness something both profoundly moving and beautifully realised. At its core, storytelling is about empathy, and here that empathy is absolute - seamlessly interwoven with groundbreaking technology to create an experience that is as immersive as it is unforgettable.

The inaugural shortlist brought together four works from France, Greece, the UK and USA, spanning augmented reality, branching film, expanded cinema and interactive installation. The other shortlisted works were: Consensus Gentium by Karen Palmer; Constantinopoliad by sister sylvester and NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) by Andrew Schneider.

Graeme Farrow, Chief Creative and Content Officer at Wales Millennium Centre, said:

The inaugural shortlist has shown the extraordinary breadth and ambition of artists working in this space. The Prize marks an important moment in recognising immersive storytelling as a vital and evolving artform, and in championing artists who are redefining how stories are experienced. We look forward to supporting Novaya to develop new work through their residency at Wales Millennium Centre.

The winning work was selected as part of a major exhibition of the shortlisted works at Wales Millennium Centre, running until 26th June 2026.

The Annwn Prize is supported by Peter and Janet Swinburn.