Opening on 5 September, the Asian Civilisations Museum presents Singapore’s first playable exhibition exploring the cultural significance of video games throughout Asia.
Singapore, 1 September 2025 – The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) will launch its newest particular exhibition, Let’s Play! The Artwork and Design of Asian Video games, on 5 September 2025. Timed to coincide with Singapore’s sixtieth anniversary of independence, the exhibition highlights the cultural, social, and creative significance of video games in Asia by greater than 150 objects.
Described as ACM’s first “playable” exhibition, Let’s Play! gives guests the chance to have interaction with interactive installations, outside artworks, and newly commissioned initiatives by modern designers. The exhibition will run till 7 June 2026.
Mr Clement Onn, Director of ACM and the Peranakan Museum, famous that video games have lengthy been central to social life: “Video games are greater than pastimes. They foster mind, social cohesion, creativity, and ethical reflection. This exhibition highlights how video games, accessible but intricately designed, mirror the best way we expect, work together, and specific ourselves.” He additionally acknowledged the contributions of colleges, neighborhood teams, and recreation organisations that helped form the exhibition’s participatory character.
Organised into 5 thematic sections, the exhibition covers classics akin to chess, weiqi, xiangqi, shogi, chaupar, carrom, mahjong, and congkak. These video games hint the evolution of play from historical traditions to trendy competitions, highlighting how they’ve formed values, fostered communities, and mirrored social life.
Highlights embody a Nineteenth-century ivory chess set from Thailand, a 120-year-old congkak board from Malaysia, and shows on the Indian recreation gyan chaupar, which later impressed Snakes and Ladders. The exhibition additionally explores mahjong’s unfold throughout the Chinese language diaspora and the way video games like chess and go grew to become skilled “thoughts sports activities” with world audiences.
Trendy views are additionally central to the exhibition. Installations akin to Climbs & Slides by Forest & Whale reimagine conventional video games with modern themes, whereas gameCheckmates! The Vendy Methodos and Osheen Siva remodel chess right into a seven-metre outside paintings alongside the Singapore River.
Increasing past the museum, ACM can even introduce ACMverse on Roblox, providing guests an interactive digital quest linked to the bodily exhibition. Further initiatives, together with neighborhood play areas and workshops underneath eractive digital quest linked to the bodily exLet’s Play Extra!, lengthen the customer expertise with alternatives to discover heritage-inspired modern board video games.
Supported by colleges, cultural companions, and gaming communities, Let’s Play! goals to foster better appreciation of Asia’s shared heritage of play whereas inviting guests to see how video games proceed to form creativity, social life, and id immediately.
Let’s Play! The Artwork and Design of Asian Video games runs at ACM from 5 September 2025 to 7 June 2026. Admission expenses apply.
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