"Skinning Our Tools provided me with a unique opportunity to meet artists, designers, filmmakers and engineers who are dedicated to expanding the social and creative contexts of various new media tools."

~ Francesca Da Rimini, Coproduction Artist at The Banff Centre
Adelaide, Australia

Computer game players trade and steal skins from allies and enemies to shift identity, to signify conquest and character. Skinning Our Tools: Designing for Context and Cult posed the questions: Can we change the skins that our technologies wear? What tools need to be generic, or more to the point, what components of tools can be generic, what elements adaptive and sensitive to the context of use? What does localization really mean or require? What tools should be built from the bottom up, within a specific context? How can that be supported?

In particular, authoring tools, for the most part built in North America and Europe, introduce implicit biases into the creative process, enabling some forms of content and not others. Aesthetics of perspective (China), and circularity (many Aboriginal cultures) can be difficult to achieve with current technologies. Aboriginal artists have helped to create language-specific tools and interfaces that incorporate cultural values.

This summit was developed with the School of Creative Media, Hong Kong University and University of California, San Diego, CALIT2, and the Aboriginal New Media workshop group. Technology and cultural designers and technology companies contributed to the dialogue.

"Being able to attend a conference with such a dynamic and wide-ranging group of guest speakers was a fantastic opportunity. As a work-study [participant at The Banff Centre], I was able to make connections with professionals who were able to offer me guidance and advice on my own projects. This conference was a valuable educational as well as professional development opportunity."

~ Zoë Curnoe, Co-production Line Producer,
Banff New Media Institute, The Banff Centre
Banff, AB, Canada