Welsh creative projects take centre stage at major London venue

Welsh innovation has taken centre stage at one of the most high-profile spaces in London.

The event led by Media Cymru saw ambitious work from Welsh creative businesses being broadcast at Outernet London – a cultural attraction whose vast, real-time media screens attract more than six million visitors annually.

Led by the Centre for the Creative Economy at Cardiff University, Media Cymru has funded more than 150 innovation projects with Welsh creative businesses, boosting media innovation and Research and Development (R&D) capacity.

At the show in London, north Wales-based CreuTech Ltd premiered Artio, an interactive experience that reimagined Arthurian legend through an ecological and feminist lens. Using music, gesture recognition and immersive generative visuals, audiences co-create the story as it unfolds.

Led by producer Ashley McAvoy and creative director Klaire Tanner, the experience brought together an interdisciplinary collective of specialists.

Contributors include acclaimed Welsh singers Alys Williams (The Voice), Steve Balsamo (Jesus Christ Superstar, The Storys), playwright and screenwriter Tracy Harris (Mumfighter, Port Talbot Gotta Banksy), and Eisteddfod Crown-winning poet Owain Rhys.

Immersive studio ATXR also premiered work at the event, called Awen: Unbound. Fusing light, sound and nature, the experience is powered by real Welsh environmental data and plant-generated music. Surrounded by the Outernet’s screens, Media Cymru’s guests discovered how nature inspires innovation, nurtures hope and reconnects audiences to a shared creative future.

Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens MP, said: “The scale of our creative industries in Wales is clear, and the sector has grown consistently outpacing many other parts of the economy.

“It shows that every pound we invest in R&D within Creative Industries generates significant returns, both in direct economic output and through supply chains and into local economies.”

She added: “I’ve been really impressed for a very long time with Media Cymru’s ambitious work to build a connected innovation ecosystem for the creative industries, one that links businesses with research expertise and provides the support that they need to grow and to export around the world. That’s how you build an industry that can compete internationally.”

Powerful reminder

Sara Pepper, Director of the Creative Economy at Cardiff University said: “Watching the works by ATXR and CreuTech fill the screens at Outernet – one of the most technologically advanced real time media stages in the world – was a powerful reminder of what happens when creative talent is given the space and support to experiment in research and development (R&D) to make something new.”

She added: “All of this being part of Wales Week London 2026 not only amplified Media Cymru’s reach but also enabled us to strengthen relationships, increase connectivity and demonstrate the vibrancy and ambition of Wales’s creative industries to a broader international audience.

“Media Cymru was established to create exactly those conditions.

“Backed by UK Research and Innovation through the Strength in Places Fund, we are working with partners across industry, academia and government to turn the Cardiff Capital Region into a global hub for media innovation focused on fair, green and global economic growth.”

Alongside the premieres, Media Cymru also shared details of its 2026 programme, including PLAYBACK, a three-day festival of innovation taking place in Cardiff this September.

The festival will showcase Media Cymru-funded projects and the wider innovation ecosystem built with media businesses across the Cardiff Capital Region.