Over the last decades, Narrative, with a capital N, has engaged in the challenge of new technology and media. As a result, Narrative has proposed all new kinds of perspectives on what we can call a narrative or a story, and its elements (Story world, plot, dramatic structure, audience participation, etc.).
Today Narrative engages its authors as well as its audience through a multitude of forms. Story driven pervasive games that merge action and interaction on the screen with that in the wider world. Alternate Reality Games (ARGs), which involve interactive stories in which the audience plays the part of a crucial character. Physical Narratives that augment spaces and real objects with information and media delivery capability. Locative Narratives which use the real settings of a city as their story canvas.
In such narrative experimentations the Authors as well as their Audiences discover and push new creative boundaries. Authors need to push dramatic elements of the story to embrace new media and technologies, challenge their Audiences with new interactive interfaces and push new modes of delivery. Single users as well as collective audience decisions and actions drive the narrative, resolve puzzles, progress the story and ultimately achieve resolutions, catharsis and conclusions. Authors need to develop not only narrative arcs, but whole narrative strategies. Audiences can rarely simply sit back and enjoy the ride.
The goal of this Symposium is to open up the discussion between academics, artists, designers, writers, makers as well as industry and government parties such as entertainment and production companies, museums and the tourism sector, regarding the content, design principles and aesthetics of these exciting new narrative and entertainment genres.
The main focus for this edition of Narrative Strategies are physical environments, the ways that physicality enhances and limits certain narrative strategies, techniques and methods. The symposium aims to bring together a group of interested theoreticians and practitioners to share their experiences and to indicate where they are working towards. We aim to leave this meeting with some ideas about what it is that people are looking for, what they are trying to make, what techniques they are intending to use in order to take their work forward. What are our, as a group's, future perspectives?
Important: The symposium has no fee, in order to facilitate artists and independents scholars to join. However participants are expected to cover their own expenses to travel and stay in Madeira. Dinners will be offered by the symposium also as an occasion to continue brainstorming and networking. Suggestions for accommodation can be obtained upon request, note that Madeira has a range of inexpensive an excellent quality hotel and hostels.
