Nico Valdivia Hennig in Residence Aug/Sept 2024
We are pleased to announce that Nico Valdivia Hennig will be in-residence from August 25th through September 22nd, 2024 with the Speculative Play and Just Futurities program.
While in-residence in Indianapolis, Nico will work on their latest project, "Andean Futures: Collaborative Play-Creation."
"Andean Futures: Collaborative Play-Creation" is a project centered on empowering Andean youth from the Pisac community in Peru's Sacred Valley of the Incas to envision and create digital futures rooted in their cultural heritage. This project seeks to address the underrepresentation of spaces for indigenous communities to actively participate in discussions about futures and traditions, such as indigenous futurism, which has been underexplored in Latin America. By fostering the creation of micro-games that reflect the distinctive Andean worldview, the project utilizes accessible, open-source tools to facilitate a collaborative process where tradition and technology intersect. This initiative offers a speculative exploration of potential futures shaped by the perspectives of indigenous and marginalized communities, aiming to inspire broader recognition and appreciation of indigenous voices in global conversations about the future through interactive media.
About Nico Valdivia Hennig
Nico Valdivia Hennig (he/they) is an award-winning Chilean game designer, ludic activist, and cultural studies researcher with over a decade of experience in game design. Currently, they are a PhD student in Hispanic Studies at the University of California, Riverside, with a designated emphasis in Speculative Fiction and Cultures of Science.
Their research focuses on ludic activism, game design, and game production in the Global South, particularly in Latin America. Nico co-founded Niebla Games, which has launched both board and video games for PC and mobile platforms. In 2022, their studio was selected for Google's Indie Games Accelerator program. Notable accolades include "Best Game Design" at EVA Córdoba 2019 in Argentina, "Best Chilean Studio of 2021,” and recent nominations for the Explorer Award at the AMaze/Berlin Festival of Experimental Game Art 2024, as well as for Best Social Matters Game & Best Diversity Game at the BIG Festival/Gamescom Latam 2024 in São Paulo, Brazil. Additionally, Nico has extensive experience lecturing on game design and narrative within game development programs in Chile.
They are also a co-founder of Río Junto, a Latin American cultural exchange hub, and a founding member of Ludocrítica, the Chilean Critical Games Studies Network.