13 Interviews - A journey in search of Nikos Skalkotas

poster & demos: 156 13 Interviews - A journey in search of Nikos Skalkotas Digital storytelling has long been recognized as an effective method for the interpretation, communication, and reflection about the past, using both traditional and media-based resources. In this prototype demo and poster, we present the concept of an interactive digital storytelling experience in the context of the ARIA project (Augmenting the Reception of Music Through Innovative Solutions and Archive) (aria-project.gr), which aims to create an engaging visitor experience for the archives of musical cultural heritage for the wider public. Digital storytelling, even in its basic form, can become an essential tool for meaningful communication and dialogue; we can apply this concept for the project to engage users in a meaningful and interesting way. In the form of a collaborative experience on mobile phones, the story involves the journalist Andreas Zeppos, who’s writing a tribute to Nikos Skalkotas in “Evoikos Kiryx”, an existing newspaper. Users follow the journalist in his journey and are called to discover the professional and personal aspects of Skalkotas’ life, while they get acquainted with his music, as well as the time he lived in. The journalist travels to Chalkida, Athens and Berlin, the places where Skalkotas lived and worked, and interviews real and fictional people, trying to reconstruct the portrait of the composer and the era that shaped not only his compositions and works, but also his character. The central story unfolds linearly, through a series of successive episodes, inspired by the periods of Skalkotas’ adventurous life. The aim of the digital storytelling experience is to evoke users’ interest and enrich their knowledge about the life and works of the Greek composer and musician Nikos Skalkotas and the historical period he lived, utilizing facts and fiction, interactive narratives, and collaborative learning activities. The narrative moves on two different levels. One concerns the "microcosm" of Skalkotas, ...