When
Tue 28 October 2025, 1:00pm – Mon 29 June 2026, 2:00pm
Location
4A LAB
181-187 Hay Street, Haymarket
Transmedia Worldbuilding Residency is a six month residency program exploring worldbuilding as a collaborative, transdisciplinary practice across game design, performance, sound and digital art. The program supports Asian Australian women and gender diverse creatives to develop culturally grounded, technology driven works through mentorship, experimentation and international exchange.
Transmedia Worldbuilding Residency is a collaborative residency program presented by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in partnership with Antariksha Studio. Developed as part of 4A’s expanding digital and experimental platform, the residency supports five emerging Asian Australian women and gender diverse creatives working across game design, storytelling, sound, performance and interactive media.
Delivered over six months, the program combines an online lab with an intensive in person residency at 4A LAB in Sydney, followed by a series of public showcases in Australia, India and online. Participants work closely with international mentors and studios to develop original transmedia worlds that move across games, digital environments, live performance and installation.
The residency places cultural storytelling, empathy and embodied experience at the centre of worldbuilding practice. Through training in industry standard tools including Unreal Engine, alongside experimental methodologies such as kinaesthetic design and collaborative prototyping, participants are supported to translate personal and collective narratives into immersive digital forms.
Structure
- Online Lab (Dec 2025 – Apr 2026): Mentored virtual space for critique and idea development
- In-person Lab (Apr 2026, Sydney): One-week intensive at 4A LAB focused on outcomes
- Showcase (Jun 2026): Works-in-progress presented across
- 4A LAB (Sydney)
- 4A+ (digital platform)
- Eyemyth Festival (Mumbai, India)
Mentors
- Avinash Kumar (India): Co-founder of Quicksand and Creative Director of Antariksha Studio, leading social impact-driven innovation in the Global South.
- Chris Solarski (Switzerland): Renowned educator known for his empathy-driven game design methodology Kinaesthetic Time Capsules, fostering emotionally rich and inclusive interactive experiences.
About the Organisers
- 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
4A is entering a bold new phase of programming, guided by the #NuWorlds Strategic Plan (2024–2028). With the newly launched 4A LAB and multi-generational program 4A Generations, we are expanding into digital innovation, artist commissions, and new forms of audience engagement. - Antariksha Studio
Active since 2013, Antariksha crafts Independent AAA games rooted in Indian heritage. Formalised as a studio in 2020, Antariksha is a transmedia collective spanning video games, performance, and new media. Led by Avinash Kumar, Sri Rama Murthy and Jayalakshmi Eshwar, the studio is pioneering the new wave of Indian gaming.
