Weird Hope Engines Archives - Bonington Gallery

In this guided tour, writer and Weird Hope Engines co-curator Jamie Sutcliffe will discuss the themes of the exhibition while exploring tabletop roleplaying games as potent tools for imagining radically different possibilities. From the transformation of the self to the evolution of social organization, this tour will introduce the artists behind each work in the show and explain how their various approaches to game design might position play as a unique form of speculation.

This event will last up to an hour. Please meet inside Bonington Building in the foyer space outside the Gallery doors at 12.55 pm. Free and open to all, booking required.

Book your free ticket and join us at Bonington Gallery for the Critical Hits Zine Fair.

Marking the launch of our next exhibition Weird Hope Engines (22 March – 10 May) this event celebrates DIY publishing and tabletop gaming with vendors from Nottingham and around the UK including Melsonian Arts Council, Copy/Paste Co-op, Warp Miniatures, Ramshackle Games and others. Critical Hits Zine Fair brings together independent publishers, artists, and writers exploring themes of critical worlding, resistance, and alternative futures.

Alongside a diverse range of zines and collectables to purchase, the Fair also features a programme of talks and conversations with artists from the exhibition including Zedeck Siew and Angela Washko, and panel discussions on fantasy illustration, game design and miniature fabrication with Andrew Walter, Amanda Lee Franck, Scrap World, and Alex Huntley.

Critical Hits Zine Fair also features gaming sessions with David Blandy, Angela Washko and Andrew Walter, as well as a film screening programme delving further into the narratives, aesthetics, and communities that shape these immersive worlds, including the documentaries World of Darkness (2017) and Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons (2019).

Event programme:

Talks:

12:00 – 12:45
Drawing Down The Moon: The Art of TTRPG Illustration
Amanda Lee Franck and Scrap Princess
Chaired by Andrew Walter

13:00 – 13:45
Warped Worlds and Ramshackle Realms: Worlds In Miniature
Curtis Fell (Ramshackle Games) and Alex Huntley (Warp Miniatures)
Chaired by Chris MacDowell

14:00 – 14:45
Art Can Never Be Games!: What Is An Art Game?
Tom Kemp and Angela Washko
Chaired by Jamie Sutcliffe and Rebecca Edwards

15:00 – 15:45
Games Design For Planetary Survival
Chris Bissette, Laurie O’Connell and Zedeck Siew
Chaired by David Blandy

11.30am: David Blandy, Eco Mofos
2pm: Andrew Walter, Swyvers
3.30pm: Angela Washko, The Council is in Session

Join us for the launch of our final exhibition of the academic year, exploring tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs).

We were delighted to host experimental exhibition Weird Hope Engines, at this first opportunity to come along for a first look around. Attendees enjoyed a free welcome drink, delicious food and music.

The first exhibition of its kind, this exhibition highlights the practices of innovative designers, artists, and writers in the field of independent game design, and brings their work into dialogue with fellow-travellers in the field of critical art practice.

We dedicate the final Vitrines instalment of our 2024/25 season – Nottingham Subcultural Fashion in the 1980s – to archive material, information and clothing that documents the dynamism of the independent fashion scene of Nottingham in the 1980s.