IQOQO Sessions: Gaming
Thu Aug 3, 17:00 - Thu Aug 3, 18:00
True Design, Keyes Art Mile, Rosebank
ABOUT
IQOQO Sessions is a series of nine inspiring talks hosted by IQOQO and taking place on 1, 2, 3 August 2023 at True Design in the Keyes Art Mile, Rosebank. IQOQO Sessions is a satellite event of Joburg Decor & Design Week, which is a new amalgamation of three very successful events: Decorex, Design Joburg, and 100% Design.
Each Session tells a gripping story full of big ideas about how a leading young creative in South Africa arrived at their groundbreaking early-career moment. In the process, these aspirational and educational tales reveal the networks and opportunities that exist in South Africa and the world that they were able to access in order to reach their dreams.
What journey did a filmmaker go on to develop their first feature? How did a fashion designer come to stage their first debut international fashion show? What led to that artist’s first major exhibition? How did a game developer create their game or that architect their first award-winning building? What is the story behind their passion for Virtual Reality? Or how did they end up working in animation?
ABOUT CUKIA 'SUGAR' KIMANI
Cukia "Sugar" Kimani is a creative engineer with computer science and digital art degrees. He works primarily in games but also other creative digital projects. He is the co-founder and former technical director of award-winning African studio, Nyamakop. Cukia currently works as a freelance engineer and producer but is always noodling around with a variety of prototypes. That he often shares on Twitter and Github.
During his tenure at Nyamakop, Cukia alongside fellow co-founder Ben Myres built the studio into "one of the most promising studios in African game development" as described by Polygon. Cukia was named as one of Forbes Africa's 30 under 30 of 2018 for his work building Nyamakop.
Nyamakop released their debut title, Semblance in 2018. Semblance, was the first African IP on Nintendo ever. Semblance has been nominated and won several awards as well as exhibited all around the world.
Before Nyamakop, Cukia created Boxer. Boxer won the inaugural A MAZE./ Johannesburg Award in 2015. He is also a public speaker having spoken at various events around the world including GDC, A MAZE./ Berlin and Respawn.