Konstfack Senior Lecturer's artwork now on permanent display at Tate

The board game is a satire on English history. It tells the story of the enclosure of the commons when the countryside was privatised. Players are forced to seek their fortune by migrating from their rural homes to the industrial cities. But in this rigged game, there is only one way to win: set sail and colonise other lands.

– Through the game's structure, my hope was that players would feel frustration at their limited choices – go into debt, resort to criminality, or become part of reproducing this system of exploitation elsewhere, says Olivia Plender.

Olivia Plender is an artist based in Stockholm and London. Her work is often based on social history, and frequently explores the relationships between gender, power and authority. Plender’s artwork is currently on display at Tate Britain as part of the new rehang of the collection. She has exhibited internationally in exhibitions that include recent solo shows at Maureen Paley, London (2022), Amant Foundation, New York (2022); and group shows including "The School of Creators: The Art of Learning from the 1960s to the present", Centre Pompidou-Metz, France (2022); the 34th Bienal de São Paulo (2021); "Life Support", Glasgow Women's Library, UK (2021); "Not Without My Ghosts", Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition, UK, (2021-2022); Göteborg International Biennial (2017); BAHAR, Off-Site Project for Sharjah Biennial 13, Istanbul (2017); Taipei Biennial (2010); Manifesta 8, Murcea (2010); Altermodern: Tate Triennial, Tate Britain, London (2009); The Greenroom, Hessel Museum of Art, CCS Bard, New York (2008); Romantic Detachment, MoMA PS1, New York (2004).

Read more about "Set Sail for the Levant: A Board Game About Debt (or a Social Satire)":
oliviaplender.org

tate.org.uk