Videogames, robots and the future of design will be explored in our 2019 international exhibition programme.
We will celebrate the design and culture of contemporary videogames with the V&A’s spectacular show Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt, which will run from 20 April to 8 September 2019.
This is the first exhibition to fully consider the complexity of videogames as one of the most important design fields of our time. Today there are an estimated 2.2 billion people who play videogames worldwide, from commuters playing on mobile phones to eSports professionals watched by tens of thousands of spectators.
Journey, developed by thatgamecompany, is a beautifully expressive and lavishly visual game in which anonymous players online control a robed figure through a vast desert towards a mountain, with the chance to emotionally connect with companions along the way.
The exhibition focuses on videogames designed and developed since the mid-2000s when major technological advancements transformed the way games are designed, discussed and played. From multi-million-dollar blockbuster titles to smaller independent games and the work of DIY artists from a hacker/maker culture, the exhibition explores current international debates as well as the creative contributions made to game culture by the players themselves.
Alongside the exhibition, there will be a varied programme of events, talks, commissions and learning workshops inspired by videogame design that will reflect the local expertise of Scottish designers, companies and academics in the field.
As part of this programme, we’re calling on designers with a link to Scotland to submit a proposal for a digital game commission that explores character development and the idea of self in videogames. The appointed designer will be chosen by a panel including experts from the Dundee videogame industry and will develop their game for our website. The commission will be supported by InGAME, an Abertay University led games innovation partnership.
We will then go on to examine the current boom in robotics with the exhibition Hello, Robot. Design between Human and Machine which will run from 2 November 2019 to 23 February 2020. This ground-breaking exhibition investigates the science and fiction of robots and looks at how they are changing the world we live in.
Vincent Fournier’s The Man Machine is a whimsical look into a world where humans and robots coexist.
Posing a series of provocative questions, it explores how popular culture has shaped our perception of robots and artificial humans, the impact this technology has had on industry and the increasing blurring of the boundaries between human and machine.
The exhibition shows the startling impact robots have already had on our world from fashion to architecture and even social care. Hello, Robot. Design between Human and Machine gives a comprehensive look at the current state of robotics and provides a fascinating vision of the future.
The focus of a new exhibition in the museum’s Michelin Design Gallery will be the work of Glasgow-based designer Gabriella Marcella, founder of RISOTTO.
Gabriella will create an installation exploring the principles of learning through play and how creativity can be supported by the defining constraints of material and colour.
Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt was curated by Marie Foulston, Curator of Videogames and Kristian Volsing, Research Curator and is on show at V&A South Kensington until 24 February. Hello, Robot. Design between Human and Machine – an exhibition by the Vitra Design Museum, MAK Vienna and Design Museum Gent – has never been shown in the UK before.
V&A Dundee is an amazing addition to Scotland’s museum-scene but hopefully 2020 will bring a more captivating exhibition programme to Scotland. Exhibitions on both video games and robots have recently been on display at the NMS (one of them is currently still running). I am aware that these topics link in with the curriculum in Dundee’s universities but as a general member of the public a feel little underwhelmed, thinking about the amazing exhibits you’ve had in London (Bowie, McQueen, Kahlo etc).
What age group is the video games suitable for?