This year’s festival explores one of humanity’s most fundamental experiences through the lens of playful art: love. From family, friendship and romance to self-care, consent and grief, different forms of love will be explored through games, installations, activities and workshops. Inspired by American scholar and activist bell hooks’ seminal book All about Love, which insists on an ethical definition of love rooted in care and the championing of personal growth, Now Play This asks how we can treat each other in more loving ways. Taking place over nine days, the festival is slower and longer this year, encouraging gentle moments of contemplation about the many different forms of love that are featured.
Showcasing both a curated selection of works and submissions from the festival’s annual open call, highlights of the festival include a feminist dating simulator presenting the tactics of so-called pick-up artists designed by Angela Washko (The Game: The Game), a workshop exploring the ideas of universal care through games hosted by the authors of Verso Books' The Care Manifesto including Andreas Chatzidakis, Jamie Hakim, Jo Littler, Catherine Rottenberg, and Lynne Segal (The Care Collective) and a chance to ‘walk through’ different family homes and witness everyday moments of love that have been captured through 3D scanning in Finnish artist Timo Wright’s open world documentary (Everyday Vrealities). On Sundays, family-friendly sessions will take place based around three cutting edge construction play kits; Wiggel, Criaturas Infinitas and Just Add People. The colourful kits allow players to work together to create temporary structures and sculptures exploring the creative possibilities of collaboration.
At the heart of the festival is the interactive installation Cushion Commons, created by artist and professor Valentina Karga in collaboration with a group of her students from University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. The installation is made up of handcrafted cushions, created from recycled materials and natural dyes, for festival goers to sit, lounge and play on, as well as providing a calm space for games, workshops and conversations.
This year the festival will extend outdoors with Australian artists Helen Kwok and Chad Toprak transforming outside spaces of Somerset House with their installation Rainbow Paths, creating unique play spaces out of colourful branching paths filled with mini-games, hidden objects and winding routes.
Some games in the festival contain explicit language, themes and content, which may not be suitable for younger players, and that some visitors may find distressing. A written content warning will accompany these games.