Exhibition Opening
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: Goethe-Institut Taipei Library, 11F
"Female Protagonists" is a game exhibition that celebrates games made by female creatives and executives in the video game industry, as well as a more diversified pool of artists who do not see themselves conforming to traditional gender norms. The exhibition features a plethora of games that simulate real lived experiences of women and other marginalized groups, that redefine femininity, masculinity and sexuality in a critical and creative style, that represent previously unheard stories of generations of women, and visualizes and examines the embodied journeys that we go through day to day. The exhibition embraces the broad definition of game as an intrinsic human instinct and need to learn, to understand, to communicate, to socialize, and most of all, to play. Therefore, we selected games that run on a variety of platforms and hardware, as well as games developed for different types of occasions and players. The week-long exhibition welcomes all to come and play, and share the playful moments with the caring communities that are the female protagonists in the video game industry.
All game designers of the 12 games shown in the exhibition will be present at the exhibition opening – take the chance to get into direct exchange with them about their games on November 24!
Lecture Performance: Challenge the Default
Time: 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm
Location: Goethe-Institut Taipei Event Room, 12F
Henrike Lode is a beloved game designer, educator and activist. She has produced award-winning educational games that teach children how to program. She has given talks around the world to implore game designers to challenge the default, asking them to make games about taboo topics like domestic violence against men; parenting transgender girls; and censoring female nipples. She wants developers to seek out input from people with lived experiences and then make these inherently challenging games.
In "Female Protagonists", Henrike will give a lecture performance that continues to inspire us to challenge the default. This time, she will offer a short analysis of mainstream game genres, its creators and core audience, the “default humans” – white male cishet able-bodied neurotypical middle class people. She will also lead us to ask and imagine important questions such as: What do games look like when they are made by and for non-default people? What kind of games, mechanics, themes, settings, and characters have we been deprived of? What now?
