Game Habitat has conducted a pre-study to explore the possibility of creating a game art gallery in Malmö, which would focus on games as a cultural expression and as works of art. The study concludes that Malmö is an excellent place for a game art gallery.

The pre-study aimed to conceptualize a game art gallery and explore possibilities, needs and local infrastructure regarding a proposal to build a game art gallery in Malmö.

In particular, the study highlights the fact that Malmö has a sustainable ecosystem for game culture where academia, industry and the city council collaborate and support each other for the wellbeing of the whole games community. This, the study finds, creates a great foundation for a game art gallery, which is currently missing in the local ecosystem.

Game art galleries

Archaeological findings have made it clear that games have been a cornerstone of human civilization for thousands of years. Nowadays, most games are played digitally, while physical board games remain highly appreciated and have even seen a renaissance in later years. Games are played by millions of people throughout the world, and in many ways, games are a much larger cultural expression than for instance film and music - combined.

“Despite games’ cultural dominance, art galleries exhibiting game content are very limited.”

Despite games’ cultural dominance, art galleries exhibiting game content are very limited. Globally, there are only a few spaces dedicated to display game related content or playable art. Malmö therefore has an opportunity to lead the way in this field. The spaces studied as part of the pre-study gives plenty of insights into what existing successes to build on, and what a Malmö game art gallery could potentially improve compared to existing spaces.

A Malmö gallery

The work to explore the possibilities of a game art gallery in Malmö started in 2024. The now concluded pre-study is an important first milestone, and guides the process onto its continued path for the coming months. It’s the pre-study’s proposal to start constructing an actual gallery in late 2025, in a space that is currently available in the same building as Game Habitat’s DevHub.

The pre-study concretely also suggests what content to include early on, such as a program with smaller thematic exhibitions, a permanent collection, and a bigger yearly exhibition. The yearly exhibition would include an event for celebrating art games, including an award ceremony hosted together with the game developer organisation Dataspelscentrum.

In its exhibitions, the gallery would include carefully selected pieces, selections based on open calls, and commissioned work. The aim would also be to, at some point, be able to offer residencies for curators and artists.

Next steps

As a next step, the pre-study will be presented in full and discussed with relevant actors in an event on February 25. The event is open to everyone, read more and sign up here.

Read the full report on the pre-study here.

The pre-study was in part funded by Malmö Stad.