Photography by Tim Hulme
»
INTERNATIONAL
COVERAGE
Chris Priestman (@CPriestman)
is a writer for Indie Statik and
Pocket Gamer. This year he made
his way out to Johannesburg, in
a whirlwind last minute trip at
the behest of A MAZE founder,
Thorsten Wiedermann to bring
some international coverage
to local game developers. He
spoke to us about the creativity
that is emerging in this space
locally and the openness of the
community in an attempt to
facilitate relationships that will
help further the South African
game development industry. Make
sure you check out his article on
local game developer Dominic
Obojkovits and his game Pixel Boy.
In a friendly and candid conversation,
typical of not just the festival but of it’s
founder, Thorsten Wiedermann chatted
to us about the evolution of the South
African version of A MAZE.
A MAZE grew out of a desire to bring
closer the relationship between games and
art. After attending a show in 2007 called
Gameface, Wiedermann found himself
wondering, “Is there more?” and so the
concept of A MAZE, designed to bring
creatives together in a space that focussed
on play, was born.
In 2008, A MAZE launched in Berlin,
Germany and five years later it’s still going
strong and has expanded to an entirely
different continent. It’s modelled on the
idea of an indie film festival – a cultural
event that aims to nurture ideas and
enable artists and developers to interact
with the public.
The goal of A MAZE. / Johannesburg
is not only to showcase indie gaming, but
to create an annual evolving platform
for both African and European media
artists and game developers to showcase
their work, make contacts with new
collaborators, and bring the world of
A MAZE to an ever expanding audience.
50
Funding is always an issue for arts
festivals, it’s a reality that we never seem
to escape – there are very few institutions
that are willing to provide funding for the
arts. A MAZE seems to have no small
amount of luck on their side, securing
not only the support of Wits University,
in a partnership agreement that will be in
place for the next four years, but of the
European Union and the Goethe Institut
as a part of their Moving Arts programme.
At the same time, although they are
partnered with an academic institution,
the aim is to have fun, play and not be too
serious in the interactions between artists,
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