Join us for An Afternoon Playing Nchọ inside the Hold Me Tender exhibition at A Loft of One’s Own, a slow Saturday made for gathering around the board with vinyl playing in the background.

We’re hosting games of Nchọ, a board game designed by Zoë Chinonso Ene of London-based design studio Homenkà.

Nchọ belongs to a seed “sow-and-capture” game tradition played across Nigeria and the wider African continent, known by many names and a shared grammar of play. Zoë continues it as a new heirloom, through a board design shaped by Igbo woodworking that hangs on the wall when it isn’t being played.

That same tradition travels far, so Nchọ will be joined by Sungka from the Philippines and Pallanguzhi from South India and Sri Lanka. Come solo or bring your people. If you know the game, teach someone. If you don’t, come over and learn.

Nchọ boards go on sale early next year, and you can sign up for Homenkà’s newsletter on site to be the first to know.

Surrounded by Hold Me Tender’s portraits of Black and South Asian women, it’s an afternoon of play, memory, and the rituals we carry with us.