LET'S PLAY! TALKS

Tracing the moves of congkak
Alex De Voogt

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This event is free, but registration (with a $10 refundable deposit) is required.


Congkak, and other similar mancala games, offer insights into the human mind and the history of human interaction. By studying examples of these games from around the world, researchers have uncovered surprising aspects of how people play and think.

Within this global context, congkak holds a distinctive place in both psychology and history. Comparative studies of play in the Maldives, Indonesia, and the Philippines reveal how the characteristics of congkak help trace historical connections that might otherwise remain hidden. Computer scientists have also used congkak to model problem-solving, showing how expert players overcome the natural limits of the human mind.


Speaker

Alex de Voogt is a professor at Drew University in the United States with a special interest in mancala games. He has published extensively on the history and archaeology of board games, as well as on contemporary gaming practices in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. In 1995, he founded the Board Game Studies Colloquium series, which continues to this day. In 1998, he cofounded and co-edited the Board Game Studies Journal.

Moderator


Noorashikin binte Zulkifli is deputy director (Curatorial, Education, and Interpretation) and principal curator at ACM and the Peranakan Museum. She developed the Islamic Art Gallery at ACM and worked on exhibitions including Let’s Play! The Art and Design of Asian Games (2025), Body and Spirit: The Human Body in Thought and Practice (2022), and ‘Ilm: Science and Imagination in the Islamic World (2016). She was also involved in the revamp of the Peranakan Museum. Her experience includes curatorial and programming roles at the Malay Heritage Centre, Singapore’s historic Muslim quarter and port town, Singapore Art Museum, and NUS Museum. Noora holds an MA in Interactive Media from Goldsmiths College, University of London.


This talk is organised in conjunction with