CHEAT! Unfair, yet brilliant.
CHEAT!
Unfair, yet brilliant.
28 november 2025 - 27 september 2026
Do you ever turn over an extra card during a game of Patience? Or make that last Rummikub tile mysteriously disappear? The urge to win runs deep, and sometimes a little slip turns into a dazzling move. What starts as a harmless bit of deception can blossom into a masterful strategy.
According to cultural historian Johan Huizinga, every game creates a magic circle: a temporary world with its own rules and understandings. But that circle is fragile. The instinct to win pushes players to the edge, time and time again – and sometimes over it. Cheaters are not simply spoilsports, but creative deceivers. They preserve the magic of the game while secretly twisting it to their advantage. Rules are there to be bent. To be stretched. To be broken. After all, cheating is also a kind of play.
The exhibition “CHEAT!” explores just how inventive people can be in their search for an unfair advantage. For centuries, artists have used animals to hold up a mirror to human behaviour. Here, you’ll encounter deer, squirrels, dogs and monkeys caught in the act, secretly passing cards to each other to manipulate the game.
You’ll also discover the clever mechanics behind loaded dice and rigged slot machines, and the ingenious devices casinos use to outsmart the cheats. Or learn about the nineteenth-century bonneteurs who prowled train carriages, duping fellow passengers out of their money with a game of cards.
In this exhibition, cheating is not approached as a moral transgression, but as a reflection of human creativity and imagination.
And sometimes you simply have to admit: it may not be fair, but it certainly is clever!
The museum also invites you to put your own detective skills to the test. Follow the clues through the gallery and try to unmask the cheat. Will you expose them, or let them get away with it?
“CHEAT!” takes you to the dark side of card games: a world of excitement, deception and brilliant tricks. The stories are enriched with works of art, intriguing objects and surprising archive material.
The cards have been dealt: now it’s your turn to choose. Will you play fair... or cheat?
