Hassun El-Zafar

Hassun El-Zafar is a strategic leader, visionary storyteller, and cultural innovator shaping the future of science engagement, education, and public dialogue. With a career spanning science, culture, and the arts, he has built a reputation for delivering high-impact programmes, pioneering partnerships, and transformative public engagement strategies.

As CEO & Director of Edinburgh Science, he currently leads one of the UK’s most influential science engagement organisations, overseeing flagship initiatives such as the Edinburgh Science Festival, Generation Science, and Edinburgh Science Worldwide.

Hassun El-Zafar will be speaking at the Museum XR Summit 2025 :

XR for Community Engagement

How can Extended Reality (XR) be used to decolonise narratives, preserve cultural memory, and engage underrepresented communities? This talk will explore Mirpur VR, a groundbreaking immersive experience that reclaims the stories of the Mirpuri diaspora through virtual reality.

Mirpur VR is an immersive, community-led project that revives lost histories of Mirpur, Pakistan, before its displacement due to the Mangla Dam project. Using XR, this initiative enables communities to reconnect with their heritage, challenge colonial narratives in museum spaces, and create a participatory model for cultural engagement.