Historic board games = interactive pieces of art
The exhibit For All Ages will be on display at the William L. Clements Library through December 23. Visit the library weekdays from 12-4 pm, or view the exhibit online here: https://myumi.ch/79n15
We all had a favorite board game growing up. The University of Michigan’s Clements Library is highlighting familiar and unique toys and board games from throughout American history in their new exhibit, “For All Ages.”
With the development of color printing processes and new ideas about childhood and education, the 19th century made it possible and profitable to mass-produce games and toys with a focus on practical skills, moral lessons and entertainment. Many, like Old Maid from 1892 and Magnetic Fish Pond, will be familiar to audiences. Others, like the “novel and exciting” Fortune Teller and the visually stunning Chiromagica, less so.
The free, public exhibit, on view through Dec. 23, is full of “interactive pieces of art that you are supposed to touch and play with,” according to Sierra Laddusaw, co-curator of the exhibit.
“In curating the exhibit, something that stood out is how many of these 100+ years old games we still play today—the design, themes, craftsmanship and gameplay have stood the test of time,” she said.
This idea of interacting with art is consistent throughout the exhibition. Visitors will receive “game instructions” informing them of details of the exhibit, with an incorporated scavenger hunt and opportunities to win prizes. Laddusaw believes this helps to keep an emphasis on the playful spirit of the content, even though the items are too fragile for everyone to actually touch.
The Clements exhibit overlaps with International Games Month, an initiative led by the Games & Gaming Round Table of the American Libraries Association. The ALA encourages libraries around the country, and the world, to play, create and highlight contemporary and historical board games.
The exhibit also has been integrated into the Clements Library’s annual Haunted Histories event Oct. 29. Guests will immerse themselves in a murder mystery via the imagined Society of Eccentric Collectors gala and game night on the eve of Halloween 1883. Participants will have the opportunity to play Old Bachelor and make paper dolls reproduced from the collection, as well as glimpse even more eccentric games from the Clements, while looking for clues to solve the mystery.
