Date of event: March 25, 2024
The Bohemian National Hall hosted events related to the European Gaming Industry. First, a “Euro Games Creative Panel” took place, organized by Czech Center New York, in collaboration with CzechInvest, Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York and EUNIC NY, and followed by the exhibition opening of “Infinite Universes,” presenting Czech gaming in general. The evening also featured a unique electronic music performance by Never Sol, a Czech musician, composer and producer from Prague. These events dedicated to gaming in the Czech Center New York were part of a bigger project “Infinite Universes – Czech Games and Their Global Success”, organized by the Czech Centres.
The discussion panel called “Euro Games Creative Panel” was opened by the representative of the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York (Michal Kaplan), CzechInvest (Matěj Zahradník) and Czech Center New York (Bruce Bybee). Right after, the representatives of Estonia, France and the Czech Republic introduced success stories, opportunities and challenges of the European gaming industry. Czech gaming was represented by Vladimír Geršl from Cyber Sail Consulting, Daniel Nezmar from GameCr3w, Diehard Studios, Dušan Čežek from Fuchs+Dachs, Place of Departure and Pavel Barák from Eventia and Association of Czech gaming developers). Estonia was represented by Andrejs Rusinovskis from GameDev Estonia, Siim Leedmaa from Estonia Investment Agency and Jelizaveta Lazonen from Estonian Business and Innovation Agency. France gaming was presented by Vincent Florant from Villa Albertine. Their short presentations were followed by a discussion moderated by Matěj Zahradník (CzechInvest).
The exhibition “Infinite Universes – Czech Games and Their Global Success“ focuses on contemporary Czech games in all their complexity – by not only showcasing the individual games, but also by presenting the creative process and focusing on selected elements that define the studios and their approach to the chosen theme, or their connection to artistic and educational practices. The opening remarks were provided by Miroslav Konvalina, director of the Czech Center New York, and followed by performance of electronic music played by Never Sol alias Sára Vondrášková. Few words were also presented by Pavel Barák, Vladimír Geršl, and Daniel Nezmar. The exhibition is on display until May 9, 2024 in the Czech Center Gallery (open on Monday – Thursday from 10 am until 5 pm).
Photo credit © Bruce C. T. Bybee
