LUDIC METHOD TEA: Playable ethnographies?

Spaces of Play in Exhibition-Making

As part of the LUDIC TEA series — a format launched by Margarete Jahrmann in the context of the LUDIC SOCIETY, the head and curators of the Vienna Volkskundemuseum present ideas for the upcoming playable main exhibition and invites participants to explore playful approaches to exhibition design and museum engagement.
Selected play objects from the museum’s collection offer insight into the curatorial context while illustrating the breadth and historical depth of the holdings. They serve as a point of departure for discussing how games, toys and playful interaction can contribute to mediation, activation and critical reflection within the museum space — and prepare a potential cooperation between Experimental game Cultures and a „playable ethnographies“ project.

About the Volkskundemuseum in Vienna
The Volkskundemuseum in Vienna is a museum of culture and society dedicated to everyday life, social structures, and their historical and contemporary expressions. Based on its extensive collections, the museum considers itself a place for gathering, exchange and critical engagement. Its ethnological work draws on the museum’s extensive collections, which are focussed on Austrian and European culture and folk art. Over 300,000 objects, an archive, and an extensive library of specialist literature – all of which are expanded on a continual basis – feed research and exhibitions. We also consider it important to deal critically with our institution’s history, for which reason we actively research the provenance of collection items.

Speakers:
Matthias Beitl, Director, Volkskundemuseum Wien
Cécile Bründlmayer, Curator
Johanna Zechner, Curator

An event by the Department of Experimental Game Cultures
Lecture
Lecture
14. January 2026, 15:00
Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, Studio Experimental Game Cultures, Raum 151, Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Wien