Art&Media International Week attracted 70 guests

Tampere Art Factory International Week 2012 attracted a record of 70 international visitors: 30 academic and other staff members from 22 institutes of higher education, 25 students from three universities and five staff members of three enterprises. The International Week featured nine workshops lead by our guests, four seminars and one show of our student works & International Week workshop results, six exhibitions, one networking sauna event, visits to Demola and (Angry Bird) Rovio, one reception and one evening party, countless project and partnership meetings.

Group photo in front of Marttilan pirtti. Noora Järventaus from
TAMK International Services hosted the Networking Sauna evening

The guests came from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain and the UK. In addition many of our international degree and exchange students participated in the events, so over all 30+ countries were represented.

Workshops were a vital part of the week

The International week was quite well documented, here you have links to blog posts showing a rich collection of photographs from the International Week events:

• TAF Workshops and seminars - what, when, where?
• Our International Week kicked off
• TAF International Week Day 2
• Producing with the audience workshop (By Heidi Mäenpää)
• TAF International Week seminars, day 3
• TAF International Week seminars, day 4
• TAF International Week special programme 

On the seminars teachers and professionals exchanged fresh ideas.
Yuwei Lin (University of Salford) on right presenting

Also our guests reported frequently on blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Here links to posts about International Week on Yuwei Lin's (Salford University) blog:

• Erasmus exchange
• Researching the Openness
• Day 3 at the TAF International Week 2012
• Space and Creativity 
• Visit to Rovio’s Tampere Studio

The hosts, our degree programmes in Film&Television, Fine Arts and Media want to thank all international guests, who really made the International Week happen. Special thanks goes to the week coordinator Sohvi Sirkesalo and project assistant Emilija Vasiljeva, who organised everything.

International Week page at TAF home
On Facebook
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TAF International Week guests went to smoke sauna

TAMK organized its fourth Tampere Art Factory International Week on 11 - 15 April 2011. During the week TAMK received guests from all over the world. The guests participated in various events, including seminars, lectures, and workshops and of course, leisure activities.

One of the highlights of the week was on Wednesday 13th of April, when the international guests were taken to Hangaslahti sauna premises. There they enjoyed dinner, drinks and good company. Probably the most memorable event was the chance to go to an authentic smoke sauna and then taking a dip in the semi frozen Lake Näsijärvi. Some were brave enough to try their luck in the water which was approximately +6 Celsius degrees.

The TAF guests were accompanied by nice clear weather which made this outdoor photo possible.

Some of the guests were TAF veterans and had been before at Hangaslahti. However, the sauna never gets old and the extreme heat made everybody feel refreshed. The atmosphere during the whole night was very relaxed and people were clearly enjoying their time in Finland.






The guests quickly realized it will be extremely hot in the smoke sauna.








On behalf of the TAMK International Services and TAMK Art and Media Programmes, we’d like to thank everybody who participated in this delightful week full of events. The sauna evening went so quickly and we almost missed the bus because it was impossible to get out of the sauna in time.

Remember, next year will come soon and hopefully we will meet again.

More pictures can be found from TAMK Flickr

Text: Elias Suominen
Photos: Elias Suominen

Danish gentlefolk visiting TAMK and Tampere Art Factory

On 11th April 2011, we at TAMK Kuntokatu campus had the honour to receive Danish guests from SDE College/ Lillebaelt Academy of Professional Higher Education. The visitors arrived from Odense, the third largest city in Denmark. Their visit is a part of the Tampere Art Factory international week held at Finlayson campus.

On Monday the 11th of April the visitors were welcomed to TAMK by Ms. Kirsi Tolvanen, the head of the International Services. After a brief introduction to TAMK and its main campus, the guests had a meeting with Ms. Hanna Ilola and Ms. Hanna Teräs from School of Vocational Teacher Education. After enjoying the gourmet at TAMK Staff Restaurant the visitors continued their journey to TAMK Finlayson campus. At Finlayson they met Mr. Cai Melakoski and Mr. Pertti Näränen who introduced Finlayson campus to the guests. The discussions in their meeting were about Finnish media education and social media tools in media education.

On Tuesday 12th the guests spent their whole day at Kuusivooninkinen. There they attended lectures about HUB Tampere, Rupriikki Media Museum, New Factory: Demola and Proacademy.

On Wednesday the 13th the Danes will attend the seminar Triple Helix - Innovation and Academic/Public/Private cooperation. At the seminar hosted by Mr. Juha Suonpää, head of TAMK Fine Arts Programme, the attendants will discuss various topics ranging from innovation to enterprise cooperation. We are excited to hear Mr. Michael Lundorff-Hansen, from Lillebelt Academy of Professional Higher Education who will present his experiences from Odense.

We wish that you will enjoy the rest of the planned program. Hopefully you do not regret visiting the city of Tampere.
Have a safe trip home!

Text: Elias Suominen
Photo: Elias Suominen

Tampere Art Factory kicked off

From left Sabrina Seidl, International Week project manager and
registering Lenno Veerhoog, Utrecht School of Arts
and Zsofia Ruttkay, Moholy-Nagy University
of Art and Design Budapest

The fourth edition of Tampere Art Factory kicked off yesterday with the International Week. TAF is a demonstration of the skills of TAMK art and media students. The International Week hosts 50 guests from South Korea to USA and Kanada and all over Europe.

The first of the ten International Week Workshops started yesterday morning, the series of six seminars will kick off today. The climax of the week will be the open day and opening of the exhibitions on Friday.

The week offers TAMK members and friends a good chance to be familiar with Finlayson degree programmes and many TAMK partner universities and institutions. Below please find a collection of events which wish you warmly welcome:

Seminars at Spede, Finlayson Campus 2nd floor

• Tue, Wed and Thu afternoons 1 to 4 PM Awesome Art&Media seminars 1 to 3. Topical talks about current art and media issues and partner university introductions
• Wed 9 to 12 AM Triple Helix - Innovation and Academic/Public/Private cooperation
• Thu 9 to 12 AM Higher education promoting social development
• Fri 9:30 to 12 AM Highway to Entrepreneurship - People and Stories Behind the Statistics (at café, 2nd floor)

Films, animations, games and web projects:

• Thu 4 to 6 PM Kino TAMK, Café
• Fri 10 AM to 5 PM Demos, games, animations, Donner and Café
• Fri 12 AM to 5 PM 12-17 Cinema screenings, Teatteri and Kuvaopetusluokka

Exhibitions:
P.S. a pic would be nice
Graduating Exhibition of fine art students of Tampere University of Applied Sciences
April 16 - May 3  Mältinranta Artcenter (Kuninkaankatu 2)
April 16 - May 15 TR1 Kunsthalle (Väinö Linnan aukio 13)

• April 7 - 17 Soft Values, installation, Ikuinen Gallery
• April 8 - May 15 Graduation exhibition of TAMK Specialization Studies on Photography students Tessa Ojala and Annu Salminen
• April 12 -15 The outputs of socialist advertising in Soviet Estonia by Evelin Urm (Tartu, Estonia)
• April 16 - May 15 Polyamoria, Gallery Nottbeck featuring works by students from Canada, South Korea and TAMK students

More information following the links:
International Week guest organisations and the workshops
International Week Seminars Tue-Thu
TAF seminar Highway to Entrepreneurship
TAF home

Greetings from Kevin Pontuti, UW-Stout

The partnership between University of Wisconsin and TAMK has now been extended to involve Fine Art and Media. Professor Kevin Pontuti will participate in Finlayson Campus International Week and Tampere Art Factory in April. We asked him to introduce himself and his department:

I am a transmedia artist and photographer currently in my 2nd year of teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. I received my MFA from Syracuse University in 1993. Presently, I teach Digital Narrative, Animation, Video and Digital Painting courses, as well as, the Senior Project course for our Multimedia Design Concentration.

Prior to moving to Wisconsin, I lived in Los Angeles for 13 years where I founded Studio P Inc., a digital art production studio that collaborated with Advertising Agencies, Entertainment Studios, Artists, Designers, Galleries and Museums to create a wide range of art and media related projects.

My creative research, pedagogical and curricular interests include transmedia narrative and entertainment design, primarily within animation, digital cinema, photography and games. I am currently developing and producing a number of projects including a short film, a motion comic, as well as, a continuous stream of photography related projects.

I am pleased to be participating in the TAMK School of Art and Media International Week. One of the main goals for my trip will be to explore exchange opportunities and to look for ways to foster collaboration between our respective universities. I’m also very excited to see what the students at TAMK School of Art and Media are up to and learn about their creative interests, as well as, the interests of the faculty. This will be my first trip to Finland and I greatly look forward to visiting Tampere.

UW-Stout, is located in Menomonie, Wisconsin, which is about an hours drive from Minneapolis/St. Paul. As a member of the University of Wisconsin System, one of the largest systems of public higher education in our country, UW-Stout is a Polytechnic University that offers of 40 undergraduate and 17 graduate programs across a wide range of disciplines.

The Department of Art and Design is one of the largest units on the UW-Stout campus with a fall 2010 enrollment of 887 students, providing a 4 year Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with 5 concentrations: Studio Art, Multimedia Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design and Graphic Design. We also recently added a new and very popular Game Design and Development major, which is taught in collaboration with our Computer Science Department. We’re launching a new MFA in Design Program, which will start in 2012.

Kevin Pontuti
Assistant Professor
Department of Art and Design
University of Wisconsin - Stout
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Tampere Art Factory

TAF – How can universities give students a kick to go global?

The international seminar "How Universities give students a kick to go global?" was kicked off in Demola by Jukka Siltanen and Taru Söderlund. Jukka invited the audience to ponder: "What can I learn?" and "How is it important to me personally?"

As Jukka pointed out, most importantly, TAF seminar is a day to celebrate TAMK students and their achievements! The speakers spoke of art and internationalism from different perspectives.

Andrea Zapata Girau showed a trailer of her up-coming Flamenco Movie, and Pekka Saari spoke about his film Memory of tomorrow, especially about combining the production with postproduction. Pekka Niskanen told the audience of the exhibition his students are having first at Werstas in Tampere and then in Dortmund. He also shared his experiences in the international art world. Then Robert Niva and Martti Sirkkola demonstrated their 3D animation project, in which they had learned the entire process of doing a 3D animation by doing it together, in a group, instead of relying on traditional lecture-based education. They explained the importance of using the wisdom of crowds and social media application in learning and producing art.


After the break it was time for Jukka Siltanen to take the stage again. Jukka talked about Hub Tampere and entrepreneurship. Hub Tampere is all about joint entrepreneurship and sharing both skills, ideas and resources. Hub Tampere has already had some excellent success, and Jukka sounded very optimistic about its future. The Proacademy students presented their projects: a Tampere guidebook for exchange students, a football tournament and its afterparty. Then producer Timo Vierimaa, spoke about his film, the "Steam of Life" ("Miesten vuoro") and how he succeeded in making his film truly international. According to Vierimaa, the keys to success are good presentation and communication skills along with patience.

The final speaker of the event was Juho Hartikainen from Score game development club, who explained how the Score game club came to be. Hartikainen emphasised the fact that the students who have the enthusism and drive to do new, innovative things, should be supported and encouraged. The students should feel like they are working for the school instead of just in the school. Siltanen, Vierimaa, Niva and Sirkkola as well as the highly interesting Proacademy projects, all highlighted the fact that so much of today's learning takes place outside the traditional classroom environment. This type of learning must be supported and nurtured, for it is the key to national and international success.


Andrea Zapata Girau final thesis work at TAMK

Links:
http://www.memoryoftomorrow.com
http://tamk-artmedia.blogspot.com/2010/04/promoting-changes-exhibition-to-inter.html
http://3danimationproject.wordpress.com
http://hubtampere.wordpress.com
http://www.proakatemia.fi
http://score.igda.fi/

Welcome to Tampere Art Factory

The third edition of Tampere Art Factory Festival (TAF) started today at the old Finlayson cotton mill in the heart of Tampere, Finland. TAF is above all a demonstration of the skills and talent of the graduates of the School of Art and Media at Tampere University of Applied Sciences, and their friends.

TAF is several fine art exhibitions, animation and film shows, interactive media, installations and performances. The fifty international guests of the International Week which started on Monday will also participate in TAF. Several works of the week workshops hosted by international lecturers will be seen at TAF.

Tampere Art Factory May 7-9 at Finlayson 

TAF today, Friday:

9.30-12.00 Seminar: How can Universities Give Students a Kick to go Global? (Demola)
12-17 Films, Interactive Movies, Animations, Visuvaara final thesis exhibition  of  visual design students (School of Art and Media)
12-16 Timo Wright's Long Sunday photo exhibition (Ikuinen Gallery)
12-18 Open Studio: MEGAGAGAA (Nottbeck gallery)
13-16 Demos at Demola
13-19 Graduation work films at Vooninkisali
16-18 I Love  Photography exhibition opening, School of Art and Media, 3rd floor
19-21 Promoting Changes Fine Art exhibition, Labour Museum Werstas
21-02 TAF party at Klubi

Open doors 13-16:

• Demola
• HUB Tampere
• Creative Tampere
• Mediamuseum Rupriikki
• Proakademy

Korean Waves photographic exhibition at TAF

From Alice in wonderland by Kang Seulgi

Korean Wave
Photography Exhibition
May 8 - 30
TR1 Exhibition Centre
Väinö Linnan aukio 13, Finlayson, Tampere
Open: Tue-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat-Sun  11am-6pm (Mon closed)
On Fridays free admission

One of the partner delegations visiting TAMK School of Art and Media International Week is the group of professors and students coming from the Chung-Ang University, the Korean top university for photography.

The guests bring with them the Korean Wave photography exhibition. The exhibition has already been shown last year at Month of Photography in Bratislava, Slovakia and will be seen later this year at Galerie Lampingstrasse, Bielefeld, Germany

Professor Walter Bergmoser, curator of the exhibition:

"Korean Wave is usually connected to popculture and soap-operas. Althought the
expression “Korean wave” might not be known very well in the western part of the world, it had and still has a strong influence in whole Asia like Japan, China and South East Asia.

Nowadays it becomes more and more known to the rest of the world. It has even spreat
further to countries like South America, Russia, Hungary atc. It started in the late 1990s and improved the country‘s image considerably. The impact was so strong that it even caused some backlashes, some countries had difficulties to accept the popularity of the “korean wave”.

Though “Korean Wave” may not so strongly be connected to fine-arts, I see a potential of the same impact in the Korean photography of the new generation as in its original field. The images in this exhibition are made by young photographers from the Chung-ang University, the Korean top university for photography.

The artists are showing us their guilts, fears and hopes in a very personal way. But they also explore the contemporary Korea in a genuine combination of western influence
and Korean identity. Confucianism with its boundaries of inner world and outer shame,
the “losing face” and filial piety are still strong in the Korean society, whereas the technical standards are far ahead from us in daily life."

The artists:

Hong Bonggi
Kang Dayoung
Kang Seulgi
Kim Jihye
Kim Minjeong
Kwon Jihyun
Park Serry
Park Siyeon 

The Exhibition is a part of  TAMPERE ART FACTORY (TAF)

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Welcome to Tampere Art Factory

Tampere Art Factory opened this morning and runs until tomorrow evening. Most exhibitions, films, performances, animations, videos, music videos etc. etc. are experienced at TAMK School of Art and Media Campus at Finlayson, the heart of Tampere.
Fine Art student's graduate show Discourse Disco is in two locations nearby, the Art Centre Mältinranta and the TR1 exhibition Centre.

The Silence is Golden Workshop you find at the top floor of our school. It is run by Bauhaus University Weimar. All visitors get their personal piece of art.
T

In the TAF lobby you can be a part of the Interactive VJ Workshop Nou & Herkauw, arranged by the Academy of Pop Culture, Holland (in the background). Here you can also enjoy videos, animations and music videos, and take a coffee break.

A group of international visitors at our rooftop garden. Our international week and TAF has international guests from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, UK, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Lebanon, Hungary, Iceland, Malaysia and Italy.

Demola presents games and other interactive projects made by our students.

TAF is open 10-16 today, 10-18 tomorrow. TAF Clubs both evenings at Laterna.

Tampere Art Factory
Demola

School of Art and Media International Week Started

The International Week of TAMK School of Art and Media really started yesterday, most international guests have arrived. The workshops of the week are:

• Responsive & Reactive Moving Image Workshop by Robert Brecevic, Performing Pictures of Interactive Institute (SE)
• Interactive VJ Workshop Nou & Herkauw by Adri Schokker and Frauke Lehberger, Academy of Pop Culture (NL)
• Editing Workshop by Elie Yazbeck, Institut d'études scéniques, audiovisuelles et cinématographiques (LB)
• Animation Workshop by Algimantas Taujanskas, Vilnius College of Technologies and Design
• "Silence is Golden" Photo Workshop, Alexander Lembke, Faculty of Media Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (DE)

Most workshops will present their results as a part of Tampere Art Factory programme May 15-16

On Wednesday there is additionally a series of presentations:

• Heli Tuksam, Tartu Art College will have a presentation on Tartu Art College and the student projects
• Aija Druvaskalne-Urdze, Liepaja University New Media Art Programme Presentation
• EUROPRIX Multimedia Art, Rainer Steindler, International Center for New Media
• Interactive Movies? Why and How? Chris Hales, SmartLab
• Academy of Popculture, Adri Schokker
• Bauhaus Universität Weimar, Aleksander Lembke

On Thursday there is the “Teaching and Learning with the Internet Generation – Methods and Solutions” seminar featuring:

• Aija Druvaskalne-Urdze, Liepaja University New Media Art Programme
• René Lansink, Utrecht School of the Arts (About the Crash Project )
• Alex Reuneker and Patrick Deters Haagse Hogeschool, Academie voor ICT & Media, Communication & Multimedia Design
• Albert van der Kooij, Hanzehogeschool Groningen, Academy of Popculture (About the Island Festival)
• Chris Hales, SmartLab, University of East London
• Wesa Aapro, TAMK (About Demola)
• Leena Mäkelä, Head of TAMK Film and Television Programme
• Juha Suonpää, Head of TAMK Fine Arts Programme

Photo: In the Performing Pictures workshop the students also use quite exotic tools, like the soldering iron. From left to right: Filipa Geraldes (Lissabon), Robert Brecevic (Stockholm), Stephanie Stijkel (Groningen, Holland), Tuija Lappalainen (Tampere) and Timo Bredenberg (Tampere).

Tampere Art Factory Soon Ready for You

The second edition of Tampere Art Factory (TAF) is taking shape. You can already find the basic programme information at TAF website, and shortly there will be loads of more.

TAF is above all a demonstration of the skills and talent of the graduates and other students of the School of Art and Media at TAMK University of Applied Sciences, and their friends. This year also the music and media students of Pirkanmaa University of Applied Sciences contribute to TAF programme.

The main structure of both festival days, May 15 and 16 is the same, there will be:

• Screenings of fictional short films, documentaries and animations. There are seven sets of screenings, each with its own titel like "This Story is True - Documentaries", "Escape or Decision - life is a set of choices" and "Tobacco, Booze and Wild Ladies - Music Films". A schedule of the screenings will later be published also in English.
• Diskurssidisko – Fine art students' graduation exhibition at Art Centre Mältinranta and TR1 Exhibition Centre. Diskurssidisko has a website which will soon be published in English.
• Games and web media at Demola
• TAF lounge – music videos, animations etc. all day long
• Clubs at restaurant Laterna both nights
• much more

Also the workshops of the International Week of the School of Art and Media will present their results at TAF. Some 40 teachers and students from our international partner universities will attend the international week and TAF.

On Saturday there are two other events TAF is going to cooperate with, the Night of The Museums and the Markets of Possibilities of Tampere Social Forum. TAF will contribute to both with dance shows and performances.

Tampere Art Factory
The Night of the Museums
The Markets of Possibilities
Demola

Read all stories about TAF in the School of Art and Media blog

TAMK Short Films Successful in Berlin

KYKY, a brand new short film event was held in the Finnish Institute in Berlin, Germany. A group of students from TAMK UAS School of Art and Media and Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences organized an evening that included six finnish short films and a panel discussion with two directors, AJ Annila and Maria Kaurismäki. Pekka Ollula, who is studying producing and creative thinking, and sound designer/composer Miro Laiho a.k.a. Michael Law joined the discussion about the films that were shown, culture export and finnish short films in general.

KYKY was launched in fall 2008 by Jussi Laaksonen, Pekka Ollula and Pauli Kopu. Later, Emmi Nuorgam joined the group. The connections to the Finnish Institute in Germany came from inside the group and the co-operation between the our group and the institute was tremendous.

Yesterday, on April 23rd, it was finally time to present the films to the audience in Berlin. And what an audience it was! The co-workers at the institute counted approximately 110 participants, which is a great number! The people enjoyed the show, the applause was nice after every film and many people took part in the panel discussion - that could be called a successful night in Berlin. It was nice to recognize, how everybody was able to make international connections and to discuss about the Finnish film scene in general with a nice glass of wine or even juice.

A project like this made it possible for us to give the audience a nice piece of Finnish culture. The feedback was very positive and we are looking forward to take more Finnish short films to other culture institutes all over the world, which was the main goal to achieve with KYKY. Thank you Berlin, we'll be back with more films and creative ideas! If you are interested getting your film abroad, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Story by KYKY

The films:
Winterlong Director: Timo Puukko
Hard Student IV: The Ultimate Battle D: AJ Annila
Ennustus – Rain Must Fall O: Anna-Kaisa Haapala
Norjalainen huora - Norwegian Whore D: Timo Vuorensola
Sivutyö – Sideline D: Maria Kaurismäki
HERA D: Sanni Rajapolvi

The Finnish Institute in Germany, presentation of films (in German)

Hard Student IV, Rain Must Fall, Sideline and Hera are made by TAMK School of Art and Media students.

Rain Must Fall and Hera are also screened at Tampere Art Factory May 15-16

Score Teams Successfull in Imagine Cup

Two teams from Game Development Club Score have advanced to the second round of Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition! Thousands of competition entries were submitted from all around the globe to the competition, but only 150 teams continued to fight for the grand prize. Teams have now two months time to finish and polish their games before the second deadline in May. We wish great success for the Score teams and hope to see them in the finals in Egypt in July!

Did you know...

Score is a game development club founded in 2007 by interactive media students at TAMK School of Art and Media. Their goal is to promote Finnish game industry and helping students who hope to build career in games but don't know how. There are currently around 65 members in the club, mostly students from Tampere region. Score has also involved in organizing workshops with subjects like work flow in teams and agile development.

Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition is an annual global event in which competitors are required to create innovative prototypes. This year's theme is to promote the eight UN Millennium Development Goals, create potential solutions that address the toughest problems facing our world today.

There are many contest categories to choose between, robotics and algorithms for example. The Score teams are battling in game development category. The grand prize is 25 000 US$ divided between the members of the team, in addition to various development kits.

The successful games:
Unity
Villa Penguila

Ruffian Games Gareth Noyse comments the games

Imagine Cup
Imagine Cup Game Development competition
Score
UN Millennium Development Goals

You can try out these + other games and meet Score members in Demola during our Tampere Art Factory festival May 15-16.
Tampere Art Factory
Demola

Picture: Screenshot from Unity

Read about other activities of the School of Art and Media to promote the Millennium Development Goals

The Electrician: TAMK - Salford Collaboration

"The Electrician tells the story of Marvin, an executioner in charge of an electric chair. After becoming unemployed when the government prohibits executions, and with his profession now illegal, Martin struggles to find a new way to use his unusual skill - showing no emotion at people's deaths."

The shortfilm "The Electrician" is a collaboration between TAMK School of Art and Media and School of Media, Music and Performance of Salford University.

The film was shot in Manchester last spring, from Tampere there was a crew of ten students.

The script, written by Jussi Jokihaara, was developed during the joint MA in Screenwriting programme. Derek Melling is Marvin, and the 14-minute film is directed by Miina Alajärvi. It is also the graduation work of four students at TAMK School of Art and Media.

You can enjoy a trailer and "making of" of the film at the film website. The Electrician was screened at Tampere Film Festival. Next change to see this film is at Tampere Art Factory, May 15-16.

Electrician website
Tampere Art Factory
MA in Screenwriting (TAMK School of Art and Media blog)

International Week of Artmedia in May

The TAMK School of Art and Media will arrange her second International Week May 11-14, followed by the second Tampere Art Factory (TAF) May 15-16. Invitations have already been sent to partner universities.

The events in May this year became very successful, the week and the festival were visited by 50 professors, lecturers, students and company representatives from 18 universities and three companies from 15 countries.

The core of the International Week was lectures, presentations, tutorials and workshops given by our international guests. The results of the workshops were presented at Tampere Art Factory.

The participants of the International Week and TAF gave very good feedback. They liked very much the opportunity to see the presentations of their colleagues, to discuss during the breaks in the International Teachers’ Lobby, and to network during the evening programme. A lot of new relationships and project ideas were born during the sunny spring days and nights in Tampere.

The networking has continued at several occasions after TAF. Many International Week lecturers met each other again at the Academic Network Conference in Graz, November.

Tampere Art Factory

Photo: The Circle of Friendship at the smoke sauna evening hosted by TAMK International Office Photo by Juha Suonpää

Academic Network Conference in Graz

The Academic Network of the European Academy of Digital Media (EADiM) had the annual conference in Graz, Austria, end of last week. This year the conference was titled "Design, Develop, Deliver - Multimedia and e-content trends".

The sessions covered actual topics like

• Smart Interfaces – intuitive use of augmented and mixed realities
• Mega trends in e-content – what do they mean for education?
• Learning and Teaching Methods – innovations that raise the learning curve
• Students and Social Networks
• Teaching Interactive Story Authoring

I made a presentation about Demola, the New innovation environment in ICT and Media education in Tampere. It was good to see many of the partners of TAMK School of Art and Media again, also making new friends. All participants of the conference were welcomed to attend our International Week and Tampere Art Factory in May.

The Conference was arranged at FH Joanneum, which also is a TAMK partner university. On day 3 the conference joined an parallel event, the EUROPRIX Multimedia Festival. You will find a story about that soon in this blog.

EADiM Academic Network
EUROPRIX

Demola
Tampere Art Factory

Photo: Advent was celebrated in snowy Graz on Saturday. Trams were free of charge, and people enjoyed the Christmas Market in the old town. The picture was taken from the Needle of Kunsthaus Graz, venue of the EUROPRIX Multimedia Festival