Visitors to a new exhibition opening next week in Dundee will have the chance to build their own version of the city’s rapidly-developing Waterfront.
"Imagination Will Take You Everywhere", which opens at the Hannah Maclure Centre in the University of Abertay Dundee on Friday 14 September, features examples of outstanding digital creativity produced by Dundee’s undergraduates, graduates and local gaming industry.
Unusually, however, the show will also feature Xbox games consoles available for visitors to use to create their own digital version of Dundee.
The consoles will be pre-loaded with ‘Minecraft’ – the multi-million selling game in which players construct their own world, dealing with challenges posed by gathering building materials and resources and fending off monsters.
Minecraft has sold around 10 million copies since it was launched last year, and earlier this year Dundee company 4J Studios released the first ever version of Minecraft for Xbox, offering a new intuitive way of playing.
Thanks to plans kindly provided by the Dundee Waterfront Project and the V&A at Dundee initiative, visitors to the Abertay exhibition will be able to play Minecraft in a detailed digital simulation of Dundee.
The game will be running live, so that participants will actually be playing alongside each other in real-time, collaborating on decisions about how their shared vision of the Waterfront should evolve.
As well as the Minecraft interactive exhibit, the exhibition will also be displaying examples of digital entertainment and creativity connected with the burgeoning digital industry in Dundee.
Exhibition curator Clare Brennan said: “Creative technologies are breathing new life into Scotland’s digital arts culture, with lots of exciting new talent emerging every year and consistently generating new ways of engaging audiences through games, interactive arts, sound and moving image.
“’Imagination Will Take You Everywhere’” reveals the inspiring creativity, technical excellence and innovation of Dundee’s undergraduates, graduates and local gaming industry; from animation to interactive media and games,” she added.
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For media enquiries, please contact Kevin Coe (Director of Communications) – T: 01382 308 452 M: 07850 904 110 E: k.coe@abertay.ac.uk
NOTES FOR EDITORS
“Imagination Will Take You Everywhere” opens with a reception from 6pm-8pm on Friday 14 September, and runs until Friday 26 October.
The Hannah Maclure Centre is located on the top floor of the Abertay Student Centre, Bell Street, Dundee, and is open from 9.30am until 4.45pm, Monday to Friday. Admission is free.
More information: http://hannahmaclurecentre.abertay.ac.uk/
