Studio Nergens (Celine Daemen & Aron Fels)

Studio Nergens was founded by director Celine Daemen. Together with art and technical director Aron Fels, Daemen creates transdisciplinary performances at the intersection of music theater, visual arts, and immersive media.

She graduated from the directing program at the Maastricht Institute of Performative Arts in 2018 and, through the opera company Silbersee, was supported by the Dutch Performing Arts Fund (Fonds Podiumkunsten) from 2021 to 2023 as part of its New Makers scheme, during which she further developed her artistic signature. In 2017, Aron Fels graduated in Immersive Media and Visual Effects from the Netherlands Film Academy. Inspired by new techniques, he seeks new ways of designing and telling compelling stories. In his design work, he creates magical-realist worlds where he uses photorealistic techniques, like photogrammetry and volumetric video, as surreal illusions within an interactive environment.

Thematically, questions about “being” are central to Studio Nergens’ work. They aim to create sensory experiences that invite the audience to turn their gaze inward. This inward journey takes visitors to a place where personal associations arise in response to universal philosophical questions.

In recent years, the studio has generated significant national and international attention with virtual reality operas, in which visitors explore visual musical scenes while walking, wearing VR headsets. For “Songs for a Passerby”, they received the Venice Immersive Grand Prize for the best immersive experience at the Venice Biennale in 2023. The VR opera “Eurydice” had previously received a Reflet d’Or for Best Immersive Experience at GIFF in Geneva in 2022.

Celine Daemen and Aron Fels are Onassis AiR and Onassis ONX Fellows within the framework of the European Media Art Platform Extended.