3rd July 2026 – (Hong Kong) An exhibition exploring the cultural, historical and technological dimensions of games will open at City University of Hong Kong on 4th July, as the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Titled The Power of Play, the show runs until 25th October 2026 and is curated by Professor Espen Aarseth, Dean of the University’s School of Creative Media (SCM). The exhibition brings together a wide range of playable works and artefacts, presenting games not merely as entertainment but as a significant form of cultural expression and collective interaction.
Spanning six themed sections, the exhibition draws on SCM’s interdisciplinary strengths in art, technology and academic research. It examines how games function, what they mean, and how perceptions of play have shifted over time. From early ritualistic origins to the digital era, the show traces the development of games through transformative moments in human history, including the advent of writing, the printing press and the computer age.
Among the centrepieces is Reimagining Senet, inspired by one of the world’s oldest known board games from ancient Egypt, dating back some 5,000 years. Alongside a historically informed reconstruction of Senet, visitors will encounter contemporary reinterpretations created by postgraduate students as part of the School’s Art and Activist Games Workshop. The works suggest that ancient games remain dynamic cultural forms rather than relics of the past, continuing to raise timeless questions about navigating systems that shape human existence.
The exhibition also revisits the formative years of video gaming in a retro-themed gallery evoking the 1980s. In the section Lost? In the Labyrinths, visitors can embark on an immersive virtual reality journey through three iconic mazes inspired by Chartres Cathedral in France, Hampton Court Palace near London and Villa Pisani in Italy. The labyrinth is presented as an enduring metaphor for uncertainty and challenge in human life.
Addressing long‑standing controversies, Good, Bad, or Innocent Fun? considers the moral scrutiny that games have faced across centuries, from medieval suspicion of gambling to modern debates over violence in video games. The section challenges assumptions that games are trivial or socially harmful, highlighting instead their measurable influence on culture and society.
The competitive dimension of play is explored in From Gaming to eSports, which charts the transformation of digital play into a global spectator sport. Early 2000s titles such as Counter‑Strike and Quake III Arena are revisited, with visitors invited to experience the intensity associated with professional esports players, whose stature in the digital arena has been likened to that of ancient gladiators.
Collaboration and creativity take centre stage in a section dedicated to Minecraft, the sandbox game launched in 2011. The exhibition illustrates how players worldwide have used the platform to construct virtual cities, recreate Hong Kong landmarks, and even design new games within the game itself. By spotlighting player communities, modifications and shared creations, the display underscores the medium’s capacity to foster borderless cultural exchange.
One of the interactive highlights is Buckets of Fun, a real‑time robotic game devised by Professor Aarseth and Professor Victor Leung Pok‑yin of SCM. In this installation, teams of visitors operate industrial robotic arms to collect balls and deposit them into scoring containers, transforming advanced machinery into a tactile, collaborative form of play.
The exhibition concludes by reflecting on the rise of independent game development. What Is an Indie Game? positions small‑scale, independently produced titles as heirs to the communal folk traditions from which early games emerged. Featuring works created outside the constraints of major publishers, the section demonstrates how innovation often flourishes beyond commercial imperatives.
