Cyborg, Avatar, Virtual: An Explorative Playground of Hybrid Performance by Davide Giovanzana on Wednesday May 20th at 12.00–13.00
This talk describes The Theatre of Unconsciousness: a research-based course that weaves together digital theatre, motion-capture acting, gaming environments, and the exploration of unconscious experience. Drawing on Donna Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto, the project embraces the cyborg — avatar, hybrid, technological monster — as a way to unlock new modes of storytelling that break free from classical narratives of loss and redemption. Instead, it invites alternative forms of presence, perception, and meaning to emerge.
Davide Giovanzana is a theatre director, theatre pedagogue, and researcher based in Helsinki. His work draws on physical theatre, mask performance, and object theatre. His most recent book, Performing Violence (Routledge), reconsiders the possibilities and limits of representing violence on stage. He is Honorary Professor at the Latvian Culture Academy, former Visiting Professor of Artistic Research at the Theatre Academy of Helsinki, and currently University Lecturer in Acting at Tampere University. He serves as Artistic Director of the Finnish theatre company Teatteri Metamorfoosi, which has performed widely in Finland and internationally.
The Role of Tax in Driving Game Development: Lessons from Ireland and Finland by Maria O’Brien on Thursday May 28th at 12.00–13.00
Both Ireland and Finland support game dev, but in different ways. The games industries are seen as important for multiple reasons, as scaleable tech-driven industries, source of job creation and as cultural forms. The types of tax policies in place in different countries reflect the priorities of the respective governments. Ireland, like other countries in the EU, has introduced cultural tax incentives for the digital games sector. Finland takes a different approach with the use of research and development (R&D) tax credit regimes to support game dev. This talk compares various uses of the tax system to incentivise game dev, taking the Irish and the Finnish approaches to compare and contrast the form, impact and evaluation of these systems.
Dr Maria O’Brien is lecturer in taxation in the School of Law and the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at the University of Galway. Her research brings together law and political economy perspectives on the intersection of taxation and the cultural and creative industries. Her recently published book on Ireland’s tax incentives for creative industries looks at the impact of the film and digital games tax incentive regime within the wider context of EU policy.
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