- Talk Show
- Informative
Episode 2: Decolonising GamesGames, integral to human life from ancient times, now raise debates on how they encode societal beliefs into rules and narratives. This includes perpetuating imperialist and chauvinist ideologies through stereotypes and victory-driven logics. Avni Sethi (Ahmedabad) discusses addressing power imbalances and bias in games with Dhruv Jani (Ahmedabad, Studio Oleomingus) and Allan Cudicio (Berlin, Twin Drums).
Speakers:
Allan Cudicio
After marketing and game design experiences in large and small companies, Italo-Ghanaian game designer Allan Cudicio founded his Riot Games backed studio, Twin Drums. Based between Berlin, Germany and Accra, Ghana, he is currently working on the PC game "The Wagadu Chronicles' ', the first Afrofantasy MMORPG. Allan's big passions are Dungeons & Dragons, fried plantain, dogs, cycling and justice.
Dhruv Jani
Dhruv Jani is an artist at, and the founder of the independent game studio : Oleomingus. He studies postcolonial writing and interactive-fiction, and explores the use of videogames spaces as possible sites of protest and reparation. His practice examines histories occluded by colonial authority, and his games have explored how such stories are recorded and remembered by individuals, organisations, and archives – especially in the form of hypertext.
Avni Sethi
Avni Sethi is an interdisciplinary practitioner with her primary concern lying between culture, memory, space and the body. She conceptualized and designed the Conflictorium, a Museum of Conflict situated in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and Raipur Chhattisgarh in 2013 and 2022 respectively. The museum has since been home to diverse critical explorations on conflict transformation and art practice. She currently serves as its Artistic Director. Trained in multiple dance idioms, her performances are largely inspired by syncretic faith traditions and sites of contested narratives. She has been continually interested in exploring the relationship between intimate audiences and the performing body.
