Cultivating creative talent: Mix and Mash is back

8 August, 2011

Cultivating creative talent: Mix and Mash is back

The Great NZ Remix & Mashup Competition is back for its second year, with a new range of exciting categories and $50,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs.

The competition challenges people to build something completely new, by reusing existing New Zealand digital content and data. Last year’s winners included an interactive map of New Zealand walking tracks and huts, a mobile service to bring in real-time information about racing conditions on Auckland harbour, and new creative work based on historic photos and poetry from Katherine Mansfield.

This year’s Mix and Mash supporters include the Ministry for Science and Innovation, New Zealand Post, and Creative Commons NZ It is being run by DigitalNZ, a service from the National Library of New Zealand, that works to make New Zealand digital content easy to find, share and use.

A new category this year is a “work of literature that creatively re-mixes a selection of talented writers’ works”. Works from newly-announced Poet Laureate, Ian Wedde and from the late, highly respected ‘digital guru’, Paul Reynolds, are two of the literary pieces entrants can create from.

There is also a special category for new applications that use public data to support the Canterbury recovery efforts. In total there are 10 different entry categories, plus other special prizes including a section for school students and a top prize of $10,000.

Bill Macnaught, the National Librarian and a Mix and Mash Sponsor, explains another new facet of this year’s competition. “We are offering a mentoring scheme aimed at developing entrants who may not necessarily win their categories, but who mentors and sponsors see as having potential. Mentors will select people to work with, creating a relationship with them and helping to develop their ideas.”

To submit your entry for Mix and Mash, view the winning entries from 2010 or find out more information on the mentoring scheme, go to the Mix and Mash website at www.mixandmash.org.nz.

Categories for 2011

Data mash-up competition categories include applications that best:

encourage government transparency, access and insight into government information or services;
contribute to New Zealand’s environmental well-being;
encourage New Zealanders’ participation in sport and recreation;
support the Canterbury earthquake recovery;
demonstrate the use of NZ data in a creative way.

Remix competition categories include the best:

visual representation of complex knowledge, information and/or data;
digital remix that tells “A New Zealand Aotearoa Story” using Creative Commons, public domain, no known copyright, or openly licensed New Zealand digital content;
work of literature that creatively re-mixes a selection of talented writers’ works;
photo remix that explores the theme “Past and present, then and now, yesterday and tomorrow”;
demonstration of the re-use of open New Zealand content/

Judges

The competition’s lead judges are Helen Baxter, Managing Directrix of Mohawk Media and XMediaLab mentor, and Nat Torkington, who ran the first web server in New Zealand in 1992 for Victoria University, and started Open New Zealand, which develops and hosts internet-based civil society projects.

Guest judges include Lawrence Lessig, co-founder of Creative Commons and Harvard Law professor.

Data mash-up

A web page, site or application made by combining data or functionality from two or more sources to create something new.

Remix

A new version of a song, book, picture, video – you name it – made by adding to, or otherwise changing the original version (licence permitting).

ENDS

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