An architecturally striking building in Salzburg's Kurgarten provides the setting for a new chapter in artistic research. Opened in October 2025, the University Mozarteum at the Kurgarten (UMAK) building houses the X-Reality Lab (XR-Lab): a high-end research infrastructure that systematically dissolves the disciplinary boundaries between the performing arts, auditory architecture and digital media technology.
At first glance, the 165m2 interior space feels almost sacred, but behind its minimalist appearance lies an impressive technical infrastructure: five of the six sides, as well as the floor, are seamlessly equipped with 3D projectors. Hidden behind the projection surfaces is a sophisticated audio system comprising more than 80 loudspeakers and subwoofers. Furthermore, LiDAR lasers and optical sensors scan every inch of the room to track people, objects and even robots in real time, enabling complex 3D spatial audio algorithms.
"The conception of the University Mozarteum's X-Reality Lab is extraordinary because it doesn't just combine individual technologies, but functions as a space where a shared (360-degree) experience is possible. From narrative formats and performative settings to live concerts, the possibilities are remarkably diverse. The X-Reality Lab is thus a kind of independent, walkable 'experience architecture' in which artistic, performative, and technological practices can intertwine," explains Claudia Lehmann, Professor of Cinematic Arts and Visual Communication, and Head of the Institute for Open Arts. She manages the XR-Reality Lab alongside Christopher Lindinger (Professor of Digital Humanities in the Arts).
Funded by the FFG and the EU (ERDF), this laboratory space explores new relationships between the creation and reception of art in a post-digital context. To break down the coexistence of incompatible, proprietary systems, the Mozarteum University collaborated with the Ars Electronica Futurelab to develop its own software framework, mozXR. The tool acts as a flexible interface for common engines such as Unreal, Unity and TouchDesigner. Artists do not even need to be physically present in Salzburg to utilise the lab; creators worldwide can prepare and test stagings and the necessary coding from a distance.
In the past, when asked to describe Virtual Reality, many people would envision a lonely person wearing bulky plastic goggles, clawing at the air in apparent isolation. However, the largely untapped potential of new XR technologies lies in collective experiences — specifically, shared encounters within a physical space. This is where new forms of social interaction, aesthetic negotiation, and societal processes evolve: "The classical distribution of roles is shifting more and more; the boundaries between reception and production are dissolving," says Lehmann. "We want to research how the capabilities of the XR-Lab affect this traditional setup, and whether immersive experiences can expand our perception and open up new ways of understanding the world — which, in turn, reflects back onto the world itself."
The virtual space intertwines with the physical space, expanding the spectrum of new narrative formats and the possibilities of how and where stories are told. The Mozarteum University is also dedicating itself to this intersection through two collaborations with the Salzburg Festival. While Claudia Lehmann and Konrad Hempel — via the Institute for Experimental Affairs (IXA), which they founded — develop the multimedia staging of Elfriede Jelinek's monumental work Unter Tieren (Among Animals) on the Pernerinsel in Hallein, the XR-Lab itself will become the direct venue for a Festival production. Under the programmatic title The Living Archive – Staging Realities, and in cooperation with Ars Electronica, artistic processes will not simply be documented but transformed into an immersive, explorable experience.
Since the Festival Archive moved to its new location in Riedenburg in 2024, its historical treasures have already been presented in various projects. In the summer of 2026, The Living Archives will follow as a dedicated archive festival devoted to the preservation of performative art, showcasing innovative concepts for a living archive. For Lehmann, this is the logical consequence of her definition of art: "Whether it's a large stage or the XR-Lab, it's mostly about collective artistic processes. In the theatre, a team develops a production together; in the XR-Lab, projects emerge from the collaboration of many disciplines — the complexity can no longer be sustained by individuals alone. At our institute (IXA), we have spent years looking at systems and the emergence of artistic forms in a kind of expanded laboratory between art and research. For me, the 'Living Archive' approaches align with these investigations because they yield new perspectives on archives, their creative use, and the question of what archives can be today. Insights gained from theatre practice inform the XR projects, while new technologies can, in turn, sustainably influence traditional staging."
Starting in October, the lab will be available to students of the new Master's programme Immersive Arts & Digital Narratives. When asked whether the space is a research location or a playground for experimentation, Lehmann points to cultural anthropologist David Graeber, who described free, creative play as a deeply human, anarchic act without a utilitarian goal, which naturally gives rise to new ideas: "It is both — an experimental lab within the degree programme as well. We want to analyse the insights gained and turn them into knowledge that can be applied in new contexts. It's about (co-)exploration and research."
This approach is also at the heart of an Artist-in-Residence (AIR) programme. From over 150 applications spanning 39 countries, a specialist jury selected transdisciplinary collectives and artistic projects, which received a production budget of up to €40,000 to develop dedicated multi-user performances. Performances by the current AIRs can be seen during the opening festival, Staging Realities, at the end of September, when the lab opens its doors to the public for the first time. Through a partnership with Schmiede Hallein, it will also strengthen ties with the independent media arts community. Alongside the AIR performances, the festival boasts a packed programme of symposia, a smartphone orchestra, a hackathon, concerts, discussion panels, and film screenings—complete with its own bar.
Claudia Lehmann views the festival motto, "The future is always now," as a philosophical mandate to not get lost in technological promises of salvation, but rather to actively shape the present. "If the future is something we constantly imagine, then it is ultimately shaped by what we do in the present; through the way we act, reflect, and take responsibility."
(First published in the Uni-Nachrichten / Salzburger Nachrichten on 6 June 2026)
