We are pleased to announce the launch of Rhizome of Ixil, a non-profit video game created by artist Daniella Pavlic. A launch party will be held on July 19th, 2014 at the Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center. Sponsored by the UC-IMC and Urbana Arts Grant, this launch party is free to the public and the whole community is invited to participate.This event will showcase the video game and provide a chance for dialog around the current Latin American politics, specifically the Maya Ixil Community. There will be a short screening of ‘How to Nail a Dictator’ followed up by a demo of Rhizome of Ixil. A panel discussion will be held for questions regarding the game design and history of the Ixil community. The last portion of the launch will be open to the public for play-testing the game and giving feedback. Beverages and snacks will also be available.

Rhizome of Ixil is a two player interactive 3D video game. It is designed to reflect the power dynamics in the former dictator of Guatemala, Efrain Rios Montt's, genocide trial. Rios Montt played a key role enforcing the scorched earth campaign of the early 1980s. In the spring of 2013, he was found guilty in the Guatemalan courts for crimes of genocide against the Ixil community. Informed by this history, Rhizome of Ixil was developed and will ultimately be on the Granito Every Memory Matters website. GMEM is  a database of memories from individuals who have  a connection to the massacres. 

Daniella Pavlić explores the power dynamics of indigenous cultures in relation to national identity and transnationalism. Informed by the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-90s), her art functions as points of reference within a woven map, guiding viewers through the narratives of atrocities and displacement imposed on Mayan communities. Appropriating the forms and aesthetics of games and sports culture, her work is a critical platform from which to examine the processes of athletic conditioning in relation to the Guatemalan government's methodology of Mayan conditioning.