Play Up! Queens, Pixel Monsters and Dragon Slayers

The world of games is defined by victory and defeat, chase and pursuit, riddles and conquests. Avatars, puppets, and pawns act as representatives on screens, stages, and gaming boards. These figures come with a certain set of abilities and characteristics, providing players with room to manoeuvre and super powers. Both historically and to date, processes of identifying with roles have also served to teach us about cultural values or to break free from societal norms. This exhibition showcases precisely those mechanisms that can be found in board and parlour games as well as in video games and in puppet shows, highlighting their cultural roots and showing the function and the historical development of those games.