Asian Games: The Art of Contest

A multitude of the most common, cherished games in the U.S. found their way here from other parts of the world.

Asian Games: The Art of Contest highlights the paramount importance of Asia as a source of chess, backgammon, pachisi, go, playing cards, polo, and many other games now played worldwide. By exploring the evolution and social functions of games in Asia and their transmission to other regions, this exhibition illuminates significant, yet unfamiliar aspects of Asian cultures and their legacy.

Asian Games is organized into four broad categories: Chance includes the games of dice, pachisi (Parcheesi), and the Indian game that inspired Snakes and Ladders; Strategy explores games in which positions and battlegrounds are paramount, such as chess and weiqi. Memory and Matching looks at playing cards, dominoes, and mahjong; and Power and Dexterity examines physical games like kickball and polo. In each section, examples of games and depictions of their use help all visitors, from the playful to the scholarly, explore how games were adopted into new cultural contexts, how they reflected traditional roles of power, class, and gender, and many other fascinating topics.

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Availability

Asian Games toured May 2005 through March 2010.

This exhibition has completed its tour and is no longer in circulation. This page is for archival reference only.

  • May 15–Aug. 16, 2005 Museum of Anthropology
    Winston Salem, NC     booked
  • Sept. 1–Oct. 5, 2005 Ellen Noel Art Museum
    Odessa, TX     booked
  • Oct. 21–Nov. 30, 2005 Berea College Museums
    Berea, KY     booked
  • Dec. 15–Jan. 19, 2006 Teton County Library
    Jackson, WY     booked
  • Feb. 3–March 10, 2006 Institute of Texan Cultures
    San Antonio, TX     booked
  • March 25–April 30, 2006 Littleton Historical Museum
    Littleton, CO     booked
  • May 15–June 20, 2006 Raupp Memorial Museum
    Buffalo Grove, IL     booked
  • July 5–Aug. 16, 2006 Ruthmere Museum
    Elkhart, IN     booked
  • Sept. 1–Oct. 5, 2006 Karl Drerup Fine Arts Gallery
    Plymouth, NH     booked
  • Oct. 21–Nov. 30, 2006 Clatsop County Historical Society
    Astoria, OR     booked
  • Dec. 15, 2006–Jan. 19, 2007 McLean County Museum of History
    Bloomington, IL     booked
  • Feb. 3–March 10, 2007 Tulsa Community College SE
    Tulsa, OK     booked
  • March 25–April 30, 2007 Ypsilanti District Library
    Ypsilanti, MI     booked
  • May 15–June 20, 2007 Cultural Activities Center
    Temple, TX     booked
  • Sept. 1–Oct. 6, 2007 Joliet Area Historical Museum
    Joliet, IL     booked
  • Oct. 21, 2007–Jan. 19, 2008 Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County
    Charlotte, NC     booked
  • Feb. 3–April 30, 2008 Butler County History Center
    El Dorado, KS     booked
  • May 15–Aug. 16, 2008 Greeley Museums
    Greeley, CO     booked
  • Sept. 1–Oct. 20, 2008 West Wyandotte Branch, Kansas City Kansas Public Library
    Kansas City, KS     booked
  • Jan. 28–March 16, 2009 Brigham City Museum Gallery
    Brigham City, UT     booked
  • April 6–May 25, 2009 Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center
    Moorhead, MN     booked
  • June 16–Aug. 11, 2009 Wilmette Historical Museum
    Wilmette, IL     booked
  • Sept. 1–Jan. 7, 2010 The Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County
    Moorhead, MN     booked
  • January 28–March 16, 2010 Del Rio Council for the Arts
    Del Rio, TX     booked