Ensemble exhibition returns to demonstrate “there's no shortage of talent in the industry”

gamesindustry.biz:

James Batchelor

Editor-in-Chief

Thursday 31st March 2022

The 2022 cohort of Ensemble, an exhibition showcasing Black, Asian and underrepresented ethnicities in the UK games industry, has been unveiled.

A stable of the London Games Festival, the initiative will display portraits and profiles of eight developers and creatives in Trafalgar Square at the heart of the city from Friday, April 1 to Sunday, April 3, before the exhibition is moved to new games expo WASD at Tobacco Dock from Thursday, April 7 to Saturday, April 9.

This is the fourth year of Ensemble, which is led by festival organiser Games London, supported by the Mayor of London and PlayStation, and curated by best-selling author and artistic director Sharna Jackson.

We caught up with Sharna Jackson during the portrait photoshoot earlier this month, who reflected on how the exhibition's profile has grown over the past four years.

Sharna Jackson

"The response gets more and more positive every year," she says. "And actually, one of the participants this year was saying how inspired she was by the 2018 Ensemble exhibition -- that's when she realised games were for her. People who walked through it are now part of it, which makes me feel great. People are seeing that, and thinking, 'Oh my God, I could be in games as well, even though I don't come from a traditional background. It's something that's for me.'

"That, for me, is this year's success story. And it's really nice that we get to be in a location like Trafalgar Square. It's a prime location, excellent photography, and with their bios on the back describing their work and their finest moments. I'm really, really lucky to be able to be part of it."

This year's Ensemble Cohort includes:

Jackson tells us this year's