Ludic Exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum: Die Welt als Labyrinth, Bewogen Beweging, and Dylaby

This paper examines three exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam that are related through their ludic art and exhibition tactics: Die Welt als Labyrinth (1960, canceled before it opened), Bewogen Beweging (1961), and Dylaby (1962). Despite never having been realized, Die Welt als Labyrinth provided a basis for experimental exhibition strategies that focused on artistic intervention in the Stedelijk’s galleries; subsequent ludic exhibitions built upon their predecessor’s innovations. By narrowing the focus on one institution over a short period of time, we can survey the development of playful exhibition strategies, as well as reveal a glimpse of the social, historical, and political conditions of Amsterdam in the early 1960s. In this article, I will turn my attention to audiences’ responses to the exhibitions, largely drawing upon contemporary reviews. My aim is to understand how ludic exhibitions operated at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, exploring the meaning and resonance of this practice. The exhibitions demonstrate the limitations of play: viewers and critics can misread them as mere amusement lacking any value as social commentary. I argue that the ludic exhibition is paradoxical in that it presents critique indirectly, making it palatable, but its implicit critique risks misinterpretation.