Creative Europe
Desk UK
for Culture

PARN (Physical and Alternate Reality Narratives) designs, develops, creates, exhibits and analyses contemporary forms for storytelling in a pan-European context. PARN recognises that the current trend for complex multimediated narratives is not just a passing fad and acknowledges that today’s culture is progressively more explorative, pluralistic and networked. PARN investigates the ways in which physical spaces can be imbued with elements; media, objects, texts, interactions and their arrangements, in order to effectively express a narrative situation. In this sense PARN is investigating contemporary narrative practices as they emerge from the confines of the stage and screen, becoming immersive situations within which a story is expressed as a completeness.

This project integrates two main threads that span the spectrum of interest in emerging narrative forms. Physical Narrative can be understood as a theatre without actors where the spectator becomes a visitor to the space and explores the environment in order to discover the narrative embedded with it. Alternate Reality Narratives can be understood as storyworlds that impinge upon our daily reality via media and objects, forming a smooth blending of the narrative environment and everyday life.

PARN incorporates strong streams of cultural production, professional development, community outreach, exhibition and dissemination in order to create a wide contribution to European added value throughout the activities of the project. PARN operates as a learning situation for professionals and an interested public as well as a research environment for artistic and aesthetic research into these emerging fields. As a cultural development and exhibition project PARN investigates trans-European and transdisciplinary narrative practices of interest to a professional audience as well as the general public.