Northern Passage: A Quest To Hopian \\ Jazmin Morris

Northern Passage: A Quest To Hopian is an interactive three-level game inspired by real locations in Barnsley and Doncaster, gradually transforming from sparse and inert landscapes into vibrant worlds.

Northern Passage: A Quest To Hopian is an interactive three-level game inspired by real locations in Barnsley and Doncaster, drawing connections between digital play, social infrastructure, and the realities of working-class towns across the UK. Inspired by the artist’s lived experience of growing up and practising in North England, the work unfolds across three distinct sites, each shaped around an archetypal gameplay figure: The Creator, The Healer, and The Joker.

As participants navigate these environments, familiar spaces are transformed into speculative social worlds where systems of care, education, and collective gathering are reimagined into alternate possibilities: an abandoned building becomes a herbal garden focused on healing; a vandalised bus shelter is transformed into a community library for collective knowledge; and a disused natural environment evolves into a space for uninhibited joy.

Using 3D scans of local areas, photographs, and low-poly digitally rendered environments and assets, the work blurs real-world references with fantasy worlding, constructing immersive spaces that reframe existing infrastructures as sites of potential rather than limitation. Across a modular gameplay installation, participants collectively activate these evolving landscapes, positioning digitally rendered environments as a tool for rehearsing alternative forms of social life and shared possibility.

Northern Passage: A Quest To Hopian by Jazmin Morris was commissioned and produced by Abandon Normal Devices (AND) for AND Festival 2026 with development and touring support from Right Up Our Street. Supported using public funding through the National Lottery by Arts Council England, with further support from Barnsley Council.