Ashes to Ashes – Marika Hedemyr at the MMMAD festival in Madrid

On 25 April 2026, Swedish artist Marika Hedemyr presented “Ashes to Ashes” at the MMMAD Festival in Madrid – an interactive mixed reality walk through the city’s public spaces, about time, distance, presence, and the act of leaving.

About the work

“Ashes to Ashes” is a site-specific mixed reality walk in which participants, mobile phone in hand, are guided through a cemetery by the planet Theia, the ancient planet whose collision with Earth billions of years ago gave us the Moon.

Through digital layers overlaid on the physical environment, visitors are led across the micro- and macrocosm, through a story about interconnectedness and what we leave behind when we go. The work addresses questions of legacy, sustainability, and existence, transforming the cemetery into a space for contemporary art and reflection in a way that is both dignified and deeply immersive.

Cutting-edge technology meets eternal questions. With both humour and seriousness, and at a pace the visitor sets themselves, audiences are invited to explore the site and themselves.

The Performance in Madrid

Madrid’s public spaces became the stage for a walk that moved beyond the everyday. Participants navigated streets and open spaces accompanied by digital layers of narrative and presence, guided by Theia’s voice and the questions of time and legacy that the work carries.

“Ashes to Ashes” asks us to pause in a world that moves fast, and to consider what we truly leave behind – for each other, for the planet, for the future.

Background and Artistic Research

Marika Hedemyr holds a PhD in Mixed Reality. Her practice moves at the intersection of technology, body, and philosophy, and “Ashes to Ashes” is a clear example of how artistic research can result in work that speaks to a broad audience on an international stage.

This work is an artistic argument that the big questions about existence and sustainability are more urgent than ever, and that art has unique tools for raising them.

About Digital on Stage

“Ashes to Ashes” was selected through the Digital on Stage Cascade Funding Programme – an open, competitive call within the Creative Europe project Digital on Stage, led by Intercult. A total of 24 innovative European productions were selected to be presented at festivals across Europe in 2026.

Photos courtesy of MMMAD Festival 2026 © Maru Serrano

Co-financed by the European Union.

Disclaimer
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.