Sydney’s Vivid festival immediately caught my eye in its inaugural year, mainly because I accidentally found myself right next to it. I was sitting in the Paragon Hotel for a Barcraft, of all things, when large flashing lights and images began appearing on the building opposite me.
Vivid has become a cornerstone of the City of Sydney’s annual social calendar, and as of last year it even began incorporating gaming into its calendar. And as of today, we know that someone’s looking to continue that trend this year.
Image courtesy of Vivid Sydney/City of Sydney
It was first advertised in the Sydney sub-reddit, with the author saying they wanted to run a gaming event as part of Vivid. “I’m really keen to put together something great for Vivid and I want to put gaming out there because it’s so often undervalued as part of the creative industry and as a contributor to arts and culture.”
A link was then provided to an online survey titled “Are You A Gamer?” which proceeds to ask users a range of gaming related questions. The topics include what sites users get their information from, what platforms they game on, whether they think racial, LBGT+ or gender representation is an issue for the gaming industry, and stereotypes about gaming.
Open questions touch on favourite Australian developers, favourite Australian gamers, Australian personalities, whether video games are an inspiration, whether video games are an art form and whether the respondent has ever considered a career in video games.
The survey ends by saying the organiser, or organisers, will be “hosting a panel discussion” focused on gaming. “Are there any contentious issues in the gaming industry that you would like to see discussed?”
It goes on to say “we are not-for-profit and are [sic] bring this event to you in the interest of public discussion and the love of gaming!”
The gaming-related activities for Vivid last year were held at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern. Events included competitions, panels with YouTubers and other gaming personalities, workshops, and meet and greets.
I’ve messaged the organiser for more clarity on what they hope to achieve with their events, but had yet to hear back by the time of publication.
Update (4:44 PM): The organisation is called On The Floor and their previous event was about the future of Sydney’s nightlife in September last year. This will be the organisation’s first gaming event, and I’ve been told it is still in the conceptual stage.
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