Safeguarding Journalism through Gaming

Since its launch in 2011, Minecraft has stood out from other open-world builders. The use of simple cubes as building blocks, similar to a set of LEGO bricks, means that you are only limited by what your imagination can build. Creatives have built whole towns and countries, recreated lost palaces from old schematics, built a functional Disneyland, and even made a walkable version of the Earth. It is an endlessly customizable world.

The Uncensored Library team recognized the potential and ran with it. They saw a space where they could build a library as a monument to house in 9 sections the writings of journalists whose works were banned in their home countries. In Minecraft, these works will live for as long as the servers do. Tobias Natterer (DDB Berlin) will lead a 45-minute lecture, followed by a post-mortem technical breakdown of the project and how Minecraft can be used beyond its original purposes by James Delaney (Blockworks UK). Afterward, there will be a15-minute Q&A, on The Uncensored Library, where it came from, and how it came to life with help from Reporters Without Borders. They will also discuss how to approach Minecraft and its community to create active and unique projects like The Uncensored Library.

This is part of Killscreen’s Method and Theory programming (see below)

About Your Speakers

Tobias is a German senior copywriter located in Berlin and is currently employed at DDB Germany. Although he studied communication design, he quickly discovered his love for ideation and concepting and kept searching for better ideas. So he did the “BBDO Masterclass” traineeship. 18 month, 4 different cities and one challenge: becoming a copywriter. Since then, Tobias has been working for some renowned agencies and clients, including Audi, Volkswagen and Reporters Without Borders. The search for bigger and better ideas has become somewhat of a passion and his work is being recognized and awarded by multiple international creativity festivals such as the Cannes Lions and the D&AD.

James is the founder and Managing Director of BlockWorks, a collective of designers, artists, and developers from around the world with a shared passion for Minecraft. BlockWorks has grown from an informal group to a global design studio that has pioneered the use of Minecraft as a design tool with film studios, marketing firms, and educational institutions. In 2016, James published Beautiful Minecraft, a compendium of stunning artworks built in the game by the BlockWorks team.

James is also the Chairman of the Block by Block Foundation, a non-profit partnership between UNHabitat, Mojang and Microsoft which uses Minecraft as a community participation tool in urban design, engaging and enabling young people in developing countries to participate in the urban planning process.

James graduated with a degree in Architecture from Cambridge University and pursues a particular interest in the correlation between architecture and video games. He is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and has given talks at the International Spatial Development Forum, The Bartlett School of Architecture, and the British Library, among others.

What to Expect

Killscreen divides its events into two categories Theory and Method. Theory courses are lectures, talks, and other one-to-many events. Method events are workshops, immersive, and other smaller hands-on programming.

Once you’re registered you can access this experience through your confirmation email or Eventbrite account. Killscreen online experiences are recommended for attendees age 13+.

This online experience will be recorded. The recording and transcript will be available at Killscreen.com about a week after the event. An account will be created for you to access it.

Killscreen is an arts and culture organization committed to advancing the dialogue and practice of games and play. Founded in 2010, we seek to drive the intersection of games, play, and culture through cross-disciplinary collaboration to show the world why play matters. We want to break down the barriers that have traditionally segregated play and games from other creative disciplines and highlight creators with ambassadorial relationships to the world around us.

We encourage you to follow and share the hashtag #KSonline for more incredible online experiences. And check out other material on Killscreen.com, including honest and thought-provoking interviews with some of the best creators at the intersection of play and culture.