DETAILS have been revealed for a major new international festival for York.

York Mediale 2018 will include a world premiere exhibition of work by media artists, with large-scale 3D printed sculptures, which will be made locally and placed across the city.

On Tuesday, the first commissions for the event were confirmed, and included an exhibition at York Art Gallery called Strata, Rock, Dust, Stars - a collection of moving images, new media and interactive artwork. The works is said to explore how our understanding of geology “has shaped our relationship with the world and beyond through a poetic layering of human curiosity, exploration and reflections on the universe”.

The exhibition will run in York from September 27 until January 6, before beginning an international tour.

The large 3D printed sculptures will be created by British/Colombian artist Matthew Plummer Fernandez, as part of an eight-month residency with aims to push computer modelling and 3D printing to its limits.

Tom Higham, York Mediale’s creative director, said the festival was the first of its kind in the UK, and would provide “a city-wide showcase for leading international digital artists and the best emerging media art talent from the UK and across the globe”.

He said: “We will be exhibiting exciting work from visionary artists, and introducing young people – from primary school to university students – to a whole range of exciting opportunities.

“We are working with the community and creative partners from the ground up, to create work that is challenging, inspiring and a lot of fun – we want people to experience something completely new, unexpected and different. We are developing a unique set of projects, commissions and installations made in, for and in response to the most beautiful historic city in the country. The work will premiere here in York, and several projects will then go on to tour the world.”

As part of preparation for York Mediale, Contact Theatre and York St John University are running Future Fires - a leadership programme for young creatives, and the first workshops took place this month.

The 10-day festival will also include live performances with dance and music across the city, with headline performances planned in some of York’s oldest spaces, and residencies and performances at venues as diverse as the National Centre for Early Music and The Crescent Community Venue in Micklegate.

Tom said the festival would also bring technology and gaming "communities together to share what they are developing and what they are learning with a wider audience". For more details go to yorkmediale.com.