Play of the Dead: Unearthing Día de los Muertos Games and History from Nine

Dr. Josh Fitzgerald explores gamer culture in Mexico from 1870 to 1910 and introduce Digital Coyote' augmented-reality museum experience

Join the our first seminar of the new calendar year! The History and Games Lab seminars are free and open to all but require registration via Eventbrite because of space limitations. The seminar comprises a 30-minutes talk followed by Q&A.

Abstract:This talk will explore gamer culture in the context of Mexico from 1870 to 1910, especially table-top games designed and illustrated by the artist José Guadalupe Posada, whose large body of prints defined Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) traditions to this day. Posada's groundbreaking game art has yet to be analysed in a meaningful way, which is surprising because board games have long been centrepieces to social activities during the annual commemoration of the recently deceased every Nov. 1-2. I will introduce the H&G Lab to the historical context of international game design, highlight Posada's collaborators and inspirations, and reveal production techniques and iconographic tropes that were adopted and adapted for a Mexican audience. The talk I will also introduce the 'Digital Coyote' pilot project, an interdisciplinary team project based on El Nuevo Coyote and funded by Cambridge Creative Encounters and the University of Cambridge SHAPE Hub to rearticulate the history of games and Mexican game art into an Augmented-Reality museum experience. This will build towards my argument for further study of games in history, Visual and Material Culture Studies, and public engagement to better understand the unique and innovative designs of Mexican heritage.