Role Play

“Role Play” is an exhibition poised between authentic, idealised and universal selves through a selection of photographs, videos and performances by 11 international artists.

Questioning gender metaphors, stereotypes, a sense of place and future perspectives, the artists involved in this exhibition toy with the notion of individuality as we know it and as it could be.

Role play, the creation of alter egos and the proliferation of the self are among the possible strategies for understanding the essence of each individual and their external image.

The exhibition includes works by the following artists: Meriem Bennani, Juno Calypso, Cao Fei, Mary Reid and Patrick Kelley, Beatrice Marchi, Darius Mikšys, Narcissister, Haruka Sakaguchi & Griselda San Martin, Tomoko Sawada, Bogosi Sekhukhuni and Amalia Ulman. 

As Melissa Harris, the curator, observes: “since the beginning of the 20th century, role-playing projects have deepened the notion of identity, allowing artists to challenge gender norms of behaviour, travel through time and imagine their selves in a myriad of different ways, reflecting on their very essence, even as it evolves. An alter ego, character or avatar can represent aspirations. They can belong to one’s personal and cultural history or evoke a sense of otherness. They can be a form of activism, or a means of moving through entrenched, even extreme, positions towards empathy, to literally put oneself in another’s shoes.”