Role Play: Prada's Milan and Tokyo Exhibition Explores Identity and Avatars

The exhibition 'Role Play' at Osservatorio Prada in Milan, curated by Melissa Harris, brings together eleven international artists exploring themes of identity, role-playing, and avatars through photography, video, and performance. The show will have a spin-off at Prada Aoyama in Tokyo starting March 11. The Milan venue is bathed in blue light to neutralize architectural identity. The term 'role play' was coined in 1934 by psychologist Jacob Moreno Levy, who developed psychodrama therapy. Artists include Darius Mikšys, whose series 'A Piece for A Peace' documents a performance within an online game; Bogosi Sekhukhuni, whose 'Consciousness Engine 2: absentblackfatherbot' uses robotic voices to recreate Facebook chats with his absent father; Cao Fei, who presents a video featuring cosplayers; Tomoko Sawada, whose 'OMIAI♡' series transforms herself into multiple characters referencing Japanese matchmaking traditions; and Meriem Bennani, whose 'Guided Tour of a Spill (CAPS Interlude)' combines amateur videos, Getty footage, and archival material in a speculative documentary set on a future island called CAPS. The exhibition examines how avatars and costumes allow individuals to explore alternate identities, drawing from both therapeutic origins and contemporary gaming culture.