Come play at the Czech Center! The exhibition Infinite Universes presents Czechia as a major player in video game development and at the same time offers visitors a unique gaming experience. Czech developers are recognized worldwide for their hard work and creativity. They have brought new ideas and defined some of the genres. The exhibition showcases successful projects as well as smaller, promising games that are artistically valuable for their drawing, animation, and music.
Czech Center Gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Opening Reception: March 25th, 7 – 9 PM Free registration here.
The exhibition opening will feature a unique game-themed live performance by Never Sol, also known as Sára Vondrášková, a Prague-based musician, composer, and producer. Her work focuses on blending vocals with synthesizers, exploring the interplay between fragility and massiveness of sound. With a penchant for melancholic compositions, she creates layered synth soundscapes and dark melodies enveloped in reverb, punctuated by distorted and noisy elements. More about Never Sol and her work here.
Initiated by Czech Centres and created in close cooperation with Visiongame (The Archive of Czech and Slovak Developers and Gamers), the exhibition Infinite Universes aims to display the Czech video game industry in all its forms, not only through the end-product of the games themselves, but also by showing specific stages of the creative process, which characterize individual developer studios and their approaches to their chosen topics or issues, and other connections with art or education. The exhibition was made with the support of Alza.cz, GDACZ (Czech Game Developers Association), Prusa Research, and Soundsgate. The PPF Foundation supported the project financially.
More about the exhibition here.
Jitka Pánek Jurková, the Director-General of Czech Centres, commented on the project: “We know from experience that Czech video games and the Czech video game industry in general have a good reputation abroad, including many prestigious awards. And yet video game fans often have no idea of their favorite games’ origins. That was one of the reasons for the creation of this project curated by an expert from the ranks of Czech developers themselves, taking form in an exhibition of the most famous, indie, or unique Czech video games, to introduce their stories and the creative elements of their development. We want the world to see that Czechia has great developers capable of building their reputation internationally.“
A RICH EXHIBITION CONCEPT
The selection of exhibits curated by Miroslav Žák, founder of Visiongame, focuses on the audiovisual qualities of the games as well as their relationship to Czech culture and history. Czech video games are influenced by the Czech tradition of authorial animation, they excel in unique solutions for their inner structures, incorporating their audio design, and in the way they work with stories, not shying away from discussing social themes. Moreover, video games developed in Czechia gained international attention and awards for their creative approaches, inspiring messages, artistic qualities, and educational characteristics.
Founder of The Archive of Czech and Slovak Developers and Gamers and curator of the exhibition Miroslav Žák says: “My choices for the exhibition were made based on the list of the most successful titles played by millions of gamers worldwide. But the exhibition also includes small or medium-sized projects, which have been developed by independent studios, offering interesting artistic or authorial solutions. The visitors may look forward to original authorial projects that immerse you in their infinite universes. It is going to be a unique experience for non-gamers and gamers alike.“
Czechia is home to more than 130 developer companies, employing over 2000 people. New specialized university programs are being made, schools, incubators, or accelerators, pushing the whole industry forward.
Jana Tomas Sedláčková, a member of the PPF Foundation’s board of directors explains: “This is going to be the first exhibition to offer a comprehensive look at Czech gaming, an area where artistic and technical talents of Czech developers meet, to an international audience. I believe it is important to remind the world that Czechia has a lot to offer, which is the main reason for our support of Infinite Universes. Not to mention that Czech video games often follow the strong Czech tradition of authorial animation, which is a long-term point of interest to the PPF Foundation. We support for example the Worlds of Czech Animation exhibition or the Anifilm festival.”
Project Website: Infinite Universes
A SERIES OF TOPICAL VIDEO INTERVIEWS
The project is accompanied by a series of 10 short videos made in collaboration with Radio Prague International (RPI), introducing selected representatives of the Czech gaming scene. The videos are available on the Web page and the Facebook page of the Czech Centres or RPI.
Initiators and organizers: Czech Centres and Visiongame
Supporters: Foundation PPF
Partners: Alza.cz, GDACZ, GDS, Prusa Research, Soundsgate, Radio Prague International
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