Dr Celeste McNamara wins major International Award

We are delighted to announce that HiddenHistory, part of the HistoryCity initiative with Dr Celeste McNamara (School of History & Geography) contributing as writer of Hidden Venice, has won the Virtual & Augmented Reality / New Digital Experiences category at the Heritage in Motion 2025 awards.

The Heritage in Motion awards, organised by the Forum of Slavic Cultures, spotlight outstanding projects that use digital innovation and creative media to promote cultural heritage. This year, the jury singled out HistoryCity (Italy / UK / Ireland) for its “innovative use of extended reality to create immersive ‘living history’ trails” citing how it “blends first-person narratives, expert commentary, and historical collections” to connect people, places and stories.

Celeste's role in Hidden Venice (one of the trails within the HistoryCity portfolio) helped embed local Venetian histories and public narratives into the immersive experience. If you're in Venice and want to follow the immersive history trail of the city, you can download the app from Google Play or the Apple store by searching for Hidden Venice.

Congratulations to Celeste and to all colleagues and partners in the HistoryCity consortium.