fig.: Card players on a table in a salon: Austrian journalist, translator, novelist Betty Paoli, writer Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Ida von Fleischl, around 1890. (C) Wien Museum.

Game players

...and games seen at the exhibition 'Spiele der Stadt' (could be translated as 'Games in the City') about luck, winning and leisure activities at the museum of the city of Vienna 'Wien Museum Karlsplatz'. The insights into the 'game'-spaces in Vienna from the 18th century until today from non-public locations like salons over semi-public spaces (coffee houses, restaurants) to public places such as parks or streets will be on view from 25 October 2012 until 2 April 2013.

'Games in the City' explores the city from socio-critical view and questions not only where but also who has played which games and visualizes this way a socio-political map of Vienna and its changes through the times.

Even the 'Dark Sides of Gaming' are part of the exploration such as the instrumentalization of games which had been used in the same way like mass media for political propaganda to support 'movements'.

fig.: Billiard players at Café Dobner, 1909. (C) Wien Museum.

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