RAINBOW ARCADE – A queer history of video games 1985-2018
2018-12-14 - 2019-01-01 | Schwules Museum, Lützowstraße 73, Berlin, 10785, Germany
***
Exhibition and Cafe Holiday Hours 2018/19:
24.12: closed
25.12: open (2pm-6pm)
26.12 – 30.12: open (regular hours)
31.12: closed
1.1: open (2pm-6pm)
***
For the first time worldwide, the queer history of video games will be explored in a major exhibition: RAINBOW ARCADE will open at Schwules Museum Berlin in December 2018 and features a wide variety of exhibits spanning over 30 years of media history, including playable titles, concept drawings, modifications written by fans themselves and documentations of online communities. The exhibition will be taking stock of contemporary pop cultural questions of representation, stereotypical and discriminatory narratives in entertainment media, and our cultural memory. For the first time, research by the LGBTQ Game Archive will be presented in a museum.
It is remarkable that while video games have become a natural part of our contemporary culture, almost every new release that doesn’t portray LGBTIQ* people and the realities of life in a negative way is quickly celebrated as groundbreaking or discredited as sudden ideological politicization. Yet there are a few examples of mainstream titles from the 1990s featuring relatively sensible coming-out storylines and same-sex marriage & flirting options. RAINBOW ARCADE asks not only how social discourses and developments have been reflected in video games and if there has been any major progress in regards of LGBTIQ* representation in entertainment media. In addition, the exhibition explores issues regarding our digital memory and the unique challenges posed by digital culture to archives and institutions and the archival absence of contemporary queer media history.
The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive supporting programme with international developers, artists and researchers. A crowdfunding campaign to fund the catalog can be found here.
RAINBOW ARCADE is curated by an internationally well networked team of curators, consisting of Sarah Rudolph (herzteile.org), Jan Schnorrenberg (Schwules Museum) and Dr. Adrienne Shaw(Temple University, LGBTQ Game Archive). For further press inquiries, the press department of Schwules Museum will be happy to connect you with the curators at any time.
The exhibition is funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe and under the patronage of Dr. Klaus Lederer, Senator for Culture and Europe of Berlin.
RAINBOW ARCADE is an exhibition project by Schwules Museum, Temple University and Computerspielemuseum (Video Game Museum, Berlin), who support the exhibition as scientific advisors and provide some of the exhibits, research and technical know-how. RAINBOW ARCADE is an official part of gamesweekberlin 2019 (8 – 14 April 2019). Additional partners are Booster Space, Jugend im Museum e.V. and Feminist Frequency.
Official media partners are SIEGESSÄULE, L.MAG, exberliner, BerlinGameScene.com and KALTBLUT Magazin.

Queere Videospielschätze und ihre Erhaltung
2018-12-15 19:00 - 21:30 (Europe/Berlin) | Schwules Museum, Lützowstraße 73, Berlin, 10785, Germany
In einer lockeren Gesprächsrunde sprechen die Kuratorinnen Adrienne Shaw (SMU) und Mascha Tobe (Computerspielemuseum) über verloren geglaubte Meilensteine der LGBTIQ* Videospielgeschichte und deren möglichst spielbare Bewahrung.
Das Wissen über Spiele mit positiv dargestellten LGBTIQ* Lebenswelten wurde vom Schwulen Museum mit archäologischer Neugierde zusammengetragen und dabei kamen Schätze zum Vorschein, die verloren geglaubt waren. Der immer schneller werdende Medienkonsum macht es noch schwerer solche Kulturgüter im Gedächtnis der Gesellschaft zu erhalten. Das Computerspielemuseum befasst sich mit der Bewahrung digitaler Videospielkultur und mit den Fragen, wie sich Games auch in vielen Jahren noch spielbar präsentiert werden können und das Wissen darum vermittelt werden kann. In diesem Expertengespräch bringen wir Adrienne Shaw, Kuratorin der Ausstellung “Rainbow Arcade” und Gründerin des LGBTQ Game Archives, und Mascha Tobe, Literatur- und Sprachwissenschaftlerin und Kuratorin des Computerspielemuseums, zusammen, um über Gegenwart und Zukunft bei der Erhaltung der queeren Videospielgeschichte zu sprechen.

RAINBOW ARCADE (Runs until May 13)
2019-01-01 - 2019-01-02 | Schwules Museum, Lützowstraße 73, Berlin, 10785, Germany
For the first time worldwide, the queer history of video games will be explored in a major exhibition: RAINBOW ARCADE will open at Schwules Museum Berlin in December 2018 and features a wide variety of exhibits spanning over 30 years of media history, including playable titles, concept drawings, modifications written by fans themselves and documentations of online communities. The exhibition will be taking stock of contemporary pop cultural questions of representation, stereotypical and discriminatory narratives in entertainment media, and our cultural memory. For the first time, research by the LGBTQ Game Archive will be presented in a museum.
It is remarkable that while video games have become a natural part of our contemporary culture, almost every new release that doesn’t portray LGBTIQ* people and the realities of life in a negative way is quickly celebrated as groundbreaking or discredited as sudden ideological politicization. Yet there are a few examples of mainstream titles from the 1990s featuring relatively sensible coming-out storylines and same-sex marriage & flirting options. RAINBOW ARCADE asks not only how social discourses and developments have been reflected in video games and if there has been any major progress in regards of LGBTIQ* representation in entertainment media. In addition, the exhibition explores issues regarding our digital memory and the unique challenges posed by digital culture to archives and institutions and the archival absence of contemporary queer media history.
The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive supporting programme with international developers, artists and researchers. A crowdfunding campaign to fund the catalog can be found here.
RAINBOW ARCADE is curated by an internationally well networked team of curators, consisting of Sarah Rudolph (herzteile.org), Jan Schnorrenberg (Schwules Museum) and Dr. Adrienne Shaw(Temple University, LGBTQ Game Archive). For further press inquiries, the press department of Schwules Museum will be happy to connect you with the curators at any time.
The exhibition is funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe and under the patronage of Dr. Klaus Lederer, Senator for Culture and Europe of Berlin.
RAINBOW ARCADE is an exhibition project by Schwules Museum, Temple University and Computerspielemuseum (Video Game Museum, Berlin), who support the exhibition as scientific advisors and provide some of the exhibits, research and technical know-how. RAINBOW ARCADE is an official part of gamesweekberlin 2019 (8 – 14 April 2019). Additional partners are Booster Space, Jugend im Museum e.V. and Feminist Frequency.
Official media partners are SIEGESSÄULE, L.MAG, exberliner, BerlinGameScene.com and KALTBLUT Magazin.

Games Week Berlin 2019
2019-04-08 - 2019-04-15 | Various Venues, Berlin, Germany
The gamesweekberlin running from April 8–14, 2019 is the leading cross-industry communication and networking platform for games business, development, and culture in Europe. Over seven days, the umbrella brand combines multiple events for industry representatives and game enthusiasts alike. In 2018 about 15.000 international and German game developers, publishers, investors, and influencers from public institutions and the media industry as well as gamers, families and fans came to Berlin.

The gamesweekberlin 2019 connects a variety of events, including the games business and development conference QUO VADIS, the independent video games festival A MAZE. / Berlin, the public playing event Gamefest, the action program for more gender diversity in games Womenize! Games and Tech, the VIP Matchmaking Dinner and the professional eSports conference GERMAN ESPORTS SUMMIT.

A MAZE. / Berlin 2019 – 8th Games and Playful Media Festival
2019-04-10 - 2019-04-14 | SEZ, Landsberger Allee 77, Berlin, Berlin, 10249, Germany
A MAZE. / Berlin 2019 – 8th International Games and Playful Media Festival at SEZ Berlin .
The only festival in Berlin that’s focusing on the celebration of arts and authorship in games, playful media and other digital dimenions. #AMaze2019
It’s a festival for alternative and experimental games, virtual reality and other dimensions… in the interdisciplinary context we are talking about playful media and we’ll present all sorts of digital art forms and artists who are challenging technology to create unique interactive works.
Website and programme (in progress) : www.amaze-berlin.de
Basically you can discover the hottest alternative and independent games, virtual reality experiences, and playful media . ! Over 80 playful installations at SEZ, Landsberger Allee 77!
The dates are April 10 – 13, 2019. Open to everyone and everyday from 8pm on Wednesday to Friday and 12pm on Saturday. Exhibition, Party and Day tickets at the door only!

A MAZE. / Berlin 2022
2022-05-13 - 2022-05-18 | Berlin, Berlin, Germany
A MAZE. / Berlin 2022 is ONLINE from May 13-17, 2022 . Enjoy the programme in the A MAZE. / SPACE, the A MAZE. Train Station, on Discord and in the live stream.
And drumroll:
A MAZE. is ONSITE again for ONE FULL DAY ! On May 17, 2022.
We invite you to a whole day of talks, workshops, games, screening, the award show – Let’s party!
After the day programme full of knowledge exchange, playing and inspiration (10am-5pm) the 11th A MAZE. Award Ceremony (8pm-9:30pm) sparks the evening that will be followed by a A MAZE. Party with Alt.Ctrl Games and Music! (10pm-3am)

Chalo Chalo in a gallery
2024-03-26 18:00 - 22:00 | Ackerstraße 162, Ackerstraße 162, Berlin, 10115, Germany
Hi Berlin. Come play some Chalo Chalo. Next Tuesday from 18:00 until 22:00. Show off your slow tactical racing skills.

Radical Playgrounds Opening Weekend
2024-04-27 - 2024-04-29 | Gropius Bau, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, Berlin, 10963, Germany
Radical Playgrounds arrives at the Gropius Bau parking plot for eleven weeks like an itinerant or a temporary funfair.
It merges a sculpture park with a maze, adds a skywalk, a display on the history of playgrounds and activism, and ongoing performative workshops. A range of artworks will tackle the healing potential of collective play, creating a public space that addresses both adults and children, and shifts focus from competition to collaboration.The artistic positions include a Maya-inspired pyramid by Edgar Calel, a skate ramp developed by Florentina Holzinger, and Céline Condorelli’s large-scale playing field “Play for Today”, which looks at gender equality in sports. In a performance piece by Massimo Furlan, two performer re-enact the 1974 World Cup match between East and West Germany on the border strip where the Berlin Wall once stood.
For the opening, Radical Playgrounds invites you to experience walk-throughs, talks and performances with the artists present. Families are very welcome at Radical Playgrounds!
More info at berlinerfestspiele.de/en/programm/2024/radical-playgrounds/performances/eroeffnung

A MAZE. / Berlin 2024
2024-05-08 - 2024-05-12 | Silent Green, Gerichtstraße 35, Berlin, 13347, Germany
A MAZE. / Berlin is an international festival focusing on arthouse games and playful media.
A MAZE. / Berlin is back in 2024 for the 13th time, bringing together the worldwide community of arthouse game developers, artistic world builders, digital artists and playful media creators. From May 08-11th 2024 the international Games and Playful Media Festival will take place in Silent Green and Panke Club (Berlin Wedding) and includes a hybride component that connects the physical festival programme with the A MAZE. / SPACE.
A MAZE. / Berlin invites artists and creatives from diverse fields to share their vision and projects, exchange knowledge, play, connect, and collaborate. A MAZE. / Berlin represents and celebrates the new art movement, made up of arthouse games, artistic virtual reality, and a playful media culture beyond the mainstream.

ComicInvasionBerlin 2024
2024-05-11 - 2024-05-13 | Museum für Kommunikation Berlin, Leipziger Straße 16, Berlin, 10117, Germany
ComicInvasionBerlin organizes comic events and campaigns and, since 2012, the most colorful comic festival in the Hauptstadt, where artists and publishers can present their new work and network. In addition to the exhibitor tables, the festival offers all kinds of events where the comic medium is brought into action in an entertaining way.
Find out more at comicinvasion.de

Queer Gamers Berlin SPECIAL#2 Computer Game Museum - Sep'24
2024-09-12 19:00 - 22:00 | Computerspielemuseum, Karl-Marx-Allee 93a, Berlin, 10243, Germany
Hello gamers! Come join our special event on Thursday Sep 12, 2024, from 19:00 to 22:00 at the Computerspielemuseum!
This is the second installment of our special event:
A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM!
Thanks to a collaboration with the nice folks at the Computerspielemuseum, we will be able to host our meeting in the exhibition’s space of Berlin’s one and only videogame museum!
Find out more and sign up at https://www.meetup.com/queer-gamers-berlin/events/302958213/
