Worldglimpsing: Roleplay and the Design of Alternate Realities Worldglimpsing: Roleplay and the Design of Alternate Realities

Whether you’re aware of it or not, you probably adopt a different persona several times a day. You behave differently at school or work than you do at home, and you act differently around friends than you do around family or colleagues. When watching the news or scrolling through your social media feed, you may sometimes wonder how you would shape and organise the world if you were in charge.

When it comes to roleplay and world-building, we are not bound by the conventions of the complex world that we normally accept as ‘real’. In this world, which can sometimes feel hostile, we may struggle to find our place. It is also a world hurtling forward at full speed towards an unknown destination. Geopolitical shifts, climate change, global anti-democratic trends and unpredictable technological developments make the future feel uncertain and frightening to many.

Now, more than ever, we need connection, empathy and the imagination to envision alternative realities. Not to escape the present, but to transform it. What might another world look like? How would it function? And how would we want to live in it? The critical and speculative design of roleplay and world-building has enormous potential for change.

Game forms such as LARP (Live Action Roleplay), cosplay (costume play) and RGP (Real Game Play) draw on the concept of ‘world-building’, which is familiar from science fiction and fantasy. These games incorporate influences from visual art, fashion and costume design, interior and set design, literature and film.

At Worldglimpsing, screens, sounds and game simulations allow visitors to experience various roles and worlds shaped and designed by leading contemporary artists and designers. Everyone is welcome to take part by assuming a role and reflecting on their own place in the world, as well as considering how imagination and empathy could contribute to a better future.

Curated by James Taylor-Foster, Worldglimpsing features work by Ayoung Kim, Cao Fei, Ed Fornieles with Nina Runa Essendrop, Lu Yang, OMSK Social Club and Reinis Hofmanis.

OUR BR00D is a guided roleplay at the heart of Worldglimpsing. Created by the collective OMSK Social Club, it asks: what if we could try out different versions of ourselves and our society before committing to them in real life?

Here, roleplay serves as a form of collaborative design, offering a space in which to explore, together with others, how we might live and how we can further develop human and artificial intelligence.

Worldglimpsing: Roleplay and the Design of Alternate Realities is a collaboration between two national museums with a shared focus on investigating an expanded field of design. The first chapter of the exhibition, hosted by ArkDes in Stockholm, was on show until October 4, 2025. The second chapter, hosted by the Nieuwe Instituut, opens on 12 December 2026.