Why video games?
Video games are not only a form of entertainment but also serve as a propaganda tool traditionally used to keep racial and sexist stigmas alive. This mind-set reinforces the oppression of coloured and indigenous people, women and minorities. Instead of selling cheap fantasies of violent heroism, Bozar Arcade reaches out to a new way of dreaming.
Artistic video games reflect the evolving scene of contemporary art and technology. They provide an interactive canvas for creative expression by offering opportunities for new storytelling formats, audio-visual innovation, and cross-disciplinary collaborations.
Bozar values video games as a medium because they can engage emotions, offer dynamic experiences, tell stories via a combination of visual and audio elements and reflect human experience by provoking conceptual ideas. Video games have an important impact on art because they are a powerful tool for new narrations, the creation of immersive experiences, and democratizing art.
A meaningful message
Curators Laurent Mbaah and Isabelle Arvers invite players to embrace a new vision through independent video games as a resistance to the one-sided voice of Western cultural imperialism. This first edition travels far away from guns, hypersexual bodies or destruction. At the heart of Bozar Arcade is gameplay that breaks down conflict and competition and gives way to social understanding.
By focusing gameplay on values such as symbiosis, cooperation and collective sharing, we dream of a new global outlook, somewhere between caring, community and meditation. These stories of redemption make people aware of various postcolonial political, social and environmental issues. At the end of the story, the player is encouraged to reactivate sensitive areas and emotions, opening up a non-productive and poetic gaming perspective.
Bozar supports independent artists and game developers who explore the intersection of art and technology, all while keeping it accessible to players of all skill levels. This first phase of Bozar Arcade runs until March 16.
The six games of the first phase:
A Dashiki in The Sims 4 - Danielle Udogaranya – Ebonix
Lifelong Sims fan Danielle started creating her own content for The Sims 4. She had a desire to see a dashiki represented in the game. Due to the great lack of unique content for gamers, she focuses on creating elements that honour black and African identities.
Hair Nah - Momo Pixel
Hair Nah was created in response to the question: what are the tensions black women face and how can we remedy them? The game is a response to the perverted touching of a black woman's hair, the micro-aggression of authority and the ownership of black bodies.
Wagadu Chronicles - Twin Drums
The Chronicles of Wagadu is a fantasy game that took full inspiration from the Yoruba culture in Nigeria and the Maasai culture in Kenya. Through afro-mythological storytelling, you experience a fictional pre-colonial Africa and can experiment with new perspectives on gender, hunting, homosexuality and spirituality.
Mine - Akwasi Bediako Afrane
Mine is a first-person exploration game in which the audience enters an open pit mine. The mine is explored through digital representations of minerals and electronic components. It also assumes the hypothesis that unknown materials will enable new realities in the future.
Water Divinity - Henri Tauliaut
Water Divinity consists of a videogame and an interactive, immersive installation developed between 2020 and 2022. Players enter the heart of the Haitian pantheon and meet different Afro-Caribbean water deities. Different levels take the viewer to different worlds, each with its own quests.
ONA - Sylvain De Vresse
This interactive, collective and tree-like experience offers a transformative consciousness experience. The adventure includes a guided digital meditation that is key to opening the doors to self-discovery. Through alternative ways of perceiving reality, ONA immerses you collectively, or individually, in a multi-faceted multi-choice story.
