Following up Pippa’s impassioned post about the difficulty of getting local animation studios to recognise the value of expensive university education . . .

There is also the challenge of getting the art world to recognise the significance of play (and games) in the gallery context.  Although contemporary art practice recognises, and in fact prizes, a certain attitude of irony, there is real difficulty in getting recognition for play, let alone, structured game experiences.  Perhaps because the gallery remains a site for serious contemplation.

In contrast to this approach, the ICA in London was founded by president Herbert Read  as an "adult play centre".   Interestingly the ICA have to insist that  "this was a serious declaration: Read believed that "aggression is kept in check via sublimation - namely through play."  In keeping with this approach, one of the earliest exhibitions at the ICA was  the 1965 "happening" staged by Mark Boyle and Joan Hills entitled "Oh, What a Lovely Whore".

The title was not only irreverent, but also alluded to the violence which Boyle and Hill felt was generally inflicted upon a passive, viewing public. So the artists informed the audience that if they wanted a happening they would have to do it themselves. In This Success/This Failure (ICA 2007), Tino Sehgal presented no objects, but instead a group of playing children. Upon entering the ICA’s lower gallery one of the children would declare to the visitor that the exhibition was titled either This Success or This Failure, after which the visitor could opt to join in the game.

The ICA are inviting further reflection on this vital topic in a panel discussion scheduled for February 29th. "Fun and Games: The Gallery as Adult Play Centre"  asks the question - Is play a vital dimension for engagement or a banal distraction from the serious business of contemporary exhibition making?  The speakers include a member of the Boyle family, Jessica Morgan, curator of contemporary art, Tate Modern; Louise Hojer, art theorist and curator; Dr Ricarda Vidal, cultural critic and short film curator. Chair: Marko Daniel, curator of public programmes, Tate Modern.

Two examples of games by the African artist,  Meschac Gaba, in his solo exhibition at the Johannesburg Art Gallery.  In these examples from a games room entitled "Salle de Jeux"  Gaba uses wooden slide puzzles and an improvised roulette wheel to encourage visitors to play and reflect upon the significance of nationalist iconography in Africa. (Photos by Christo Doherty).