Exhibition "F(R)ICTION: Art & Games"

In recent years, video games—and their associated references—have taken on an increasingly prominent role in contemporary art exhibitions curated by renowned figures at prestigious institutions. This proliferation of major exhibitions attests to the fact that video games have become an undeniable cultural force. A new generation of artists now uses games and video games not only as a natural means of expression but also as a way to articulate their relationship to the past, contemporary culture, and society.

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However, it is striking to note that these exhibitions almost exclusively feature creators with fine arts backgrounds, who define themselves as producing art games or referencing video games. This creates the impression that it is primarily artists trained in art schools who experiment with games as an artistic form—consciously exploring the medium’s formal qualities, aesthetics, and content. Yet, communities rooted in game design have been conducting radical experiments with games since the mid-1980s.
The exhibition will highlight the differences between these two communities, their areas of overlap, and the more recent emergence of creators trained in both fields.

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F(R)ICTION will bring together internationally acclaimed artists and designers, major installations, and a wide range of radical experiments. The featured works will challenge the stereotypes often associated with games—reduced to mere violent or sexist entertainment. On the contrary, these complex and critical art/gameworks often explicitly oppose the characteristics of industry-produced games. The exhibition will also demonstrate how deeply inclusive this field of contemporary creation has become: it will feature works from around the world and give significant space to women, Black, Indigenous, and racialized individuals, as well as queer, trans, and non-binary creators.

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The full programme will be released in early September.