Following the success of our interactive application Create Your Own Immersive Room, developed for a temporary exhibition at the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA), the museum commissioned Streamcolors to design a new Stream Machine dedicated to African art.

Installed permanently in the African Gallery as part of the gallery’s complete renovation, this installation was conceived as a new interactive learning space that engages visitors through experiences designed to cultivate creativity, imagination, and experimentation. Starting from objects in the African collection — including textiles, beads, carved wood, and metal — the Stream Machine invites audiences to discover the richness of African art in an innovative and participatory way.

The project received recognition at the American Alliance of Museums Awards 2018 – Excellence in Exhibition Competition, with a Special Achievement for Effective Use of Evaluation. The jury highlighted the strong audience research conducted to inform diverse perspectives without dictating a single narrative of African art. The African Gallery’s interactive learning space encourages visitors to explore the collection through hands-on activities and an interactive mirror that transforms their image using textures and patterns drawn from the artworks.