Workshops
Medrar for Contemporary Art and Goethe-Institut Kairo
29 January 2021 - 10 February 2021
Shish Bish
Open Call for artists and game designers
Shish bish is a program launched in collaboration between Medrar and Makouk to initiate an artistic and conceptual journey of game creation.
Through a 9 day workshop, participants are invited to explore the space where art and gaming intersect.
Via facilitated sessions and through interventions by guest speakers, the workshop participants will work collectively and merge their different interests and expertise in an artful way to design and implement artistic games that will be produced and displayed in an exhibition open to the public. The workshop will take place at Medrar for Contemporary Art and Goethe-Institut Kairo – at the studio Takhshina and the adjacent open space – and run for 9 days between January 29th and February 10th. Each session will last from 4 to 6 hours. On weekdays from 6 pm to 10 pm and weekends from 12 pm to 6 pm.
The workshop will include group activities meant to strengthen the participants’ understanding of gamification within the artistic context and give them the tools necessary to create a compelling artistic game. Through group activities, lectures, and hands-on activities, artists and game designers will share knowledge and ideas and gain inspirational insights from experienced practitioners and the availability of technical material, in order to acquire and complement the required skills and work collaboratively on the creation of an artistically designed game. In small mixed groups, the participants will cooperate to conceive and prototype a project, which they will then test and articulate for the final exhibition that will take place in February/March at Medrar for Contemporary Art.
In order to maintain a safe and healthy workplace, the team will provide participants with adequate supplies, including hand wipes, soap, and alcohol-based hand sanitizers, make sure that social distancing policies are respected by participants, and remind them of basic preventive measures and safety precautions.
GUIDELINES AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The DEADLINE for submissions is 6 December 2020.
Poster design by Mohamed Sayed
Typography by Fadi Makram Wilson
The workshop was facilitated by Ali Azmi and held between 29 January and 10 February at Medrar for Contemporary Art and Goethe-Institut Kairo.
Guest speakers: Mariam Abou Ghazi and Ahmed Elshaer
Photographers: Mohamed Helmy and Abdallah Khairy
Coordination: Victoria Cornacchia
Technical assistance: Theodore Amgad
Production manager: Mazen Hussein
Special thanks to the Gothe-Institut Kairo for hosting the workshop at the studio Takhshina.