HOMO LUDENS LUDENS (Event, Oct. 22)

As part of the XXIV edition of the ‘Settimana della Lingua Italiana’ (Week of the Italian Language ), the Institute of Italian Culture in Valletta is proud to host a panel of game scholars that will explore the theme of “play” in relation to contemporary culture. Play an activity that involves everyone at all stages of our lives, and yet we rarely stop to think about what the functions and the meaning of play. What is its social role, and how can it transform us and influence our relationships with other people?

The event is free and in ITALIAN.
A small refreshment will follow the panel.

The Theme

Riccardo Fassone and Stefano Gualeni, game scholars and game designers, will converse with our Costantino Oliva and Irene Incarico about play and playing, drawing on their latest books on the personal and cultural meanings of the games we surround ourselves with.

In Ballare di Architettura (Quanti Einaudi, 2024), Riccardo Fassone offers a reading of play based on spontaneity and participation, straddling autobiography and game theory.

In Il Videogioco del Mondo (Timeo, 2024), Stefano Gualeni questions the communicative and transformative use of digital media, particularly our relationship with the interactive worlds of video games.

The Speakers

Riccardo Fassone teaches the history and theories of playful forms at the University of Turin. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the history of digital and analog games and their relationship with other media. He has taught and conducted research in the United States and France. He is also a game designer and collaborates in the creation of historically themed board games.

Stefano Gualeni is a full professor at the Institute of Digital Games at the University of Malta and a visiting professor at LCAD in Laguna Beach (California). In addition to being the author of games, video games, and academic texts, he has also written two science fiction novels: The Clouds (Routledge, 2023) and What We Owe the Dead (forthcoming next year from Set Margins’).

More information about the event can be found online.