The Art of Mini Golf
A playable exhibition by RISING Melbourne
Information
Tickets:
17-21 June: Pay What You Can
(recommended price £15)
24 June onwards: £15-£25
All orders subject to a £2 transaction fee
This event will take place throughout Battersea Arts Centre
An exhibition of rebellion and play for the curious, the competitive, and anyone bold enough to swing outside the lines.
Play your way through nine adventurous mini golf holes, each designed by a leading woman artist, exploring the game’s subversive history.
Artist, filmmaker and writer Miranda July (All Fours) goes ‘All Fores’ for the project. Kaylene Whiskey sets course with pop icons woven through Anangu culture. Tokyo’s Saeborg unleashes latex creatures of cartoonish menace, Delaine Le Bas squares the circle, and Natasha Tontey entwines speculative storytelling with mythology, technology, and alternative histories. Atlanta rapper BKTHERULA joins sound artist Kate Miller to make swamp flowers bloom. Australian duo Soda Jerk open an algorithmic K-hole, and prolific photographer Pat Brassington dives headfirst.
Only the most audacious artists are here because mini golf itself was born of rebellion. The game was originally invented by 19th century Scottish women who were banned from ‘real’ courses but refused to sit on the sidelines.
Pick your putter. It’s art that fills the cup.
Formerly known as ‘Swingers: The Art of Mini Golf’
Commissioned by RISING. Curator Grace Herbert.
Supported by House of Oz
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A Brief History of Mini Golf
Like many good things, mini golf owes its origins to women. In this case, a group of 19th-century Scottish women banned from playing golf because swinging sticks was considered ‘unladylike’. This rebellious group of women commissioned a 9-hole putting-only course named The Himalayas, after its uneven terrain. The course still sits alongside St Andrew’s Golf Course near Edinburgh today.
The smaller course demanded precision, and its rolling terrain added challenge, chance, and amusement. The popularity of the ‘Ladies Putting Club’ format grew rapidly, with new courses cropping up across the United Kingdom.
By Prohibition era, DIY mini golf courses had become a craze across the USA. Thousands of courses in New York and LA were built on rooftops, in backyards and on nature strips. Many were equipped with loudspeakers and were open 24-hours a day. Eventually, late-night curfews shut them down. Years later, mini-golf played a role in the civil rights movement, with a course in Washington becoming one of the first public recreational facilities to be desegregated.
Exhibition Guide
Ananyi – Travelling
Kaylene Whiskey
Algorithmic K-Holes and the Techno-Serfdom of simulated Entrapment Under Slop Capitalism.
Soda Jerk
Animal Golf
Saeborg
Square peg, round hole. NO!
Delaine Le Bas
Faceoff
Pat Brassington
Hole of the Simian Crone
Natasha Tontey
Swamp Flower
BKTHERULA
Wave of Fortune
Miranda July
Visitor FAQs
About The Art of Mini Golf
The Art of Mini Golf is an art exhibition posing as a mini golf course. Nodding to the game’s feminist roots and subversive history, each of the nine holes have been created by a leading woman artist.
The artists who designed the nine mini golf holes include Kaylene Whiskey, Natasha Tontey, Pat Brassington, Delaine Le Bas, Soda Jerk, Saeborg, BKTHERULA, Miranda July, and Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley.
Each artist approached the challenge of making their first mini golf hole in surprising and wildly different ways.
Pricing & Operating Hours
The Art of Mini Golf will run from 17 June to 26 July. Sessions start every 15 minutes.
Opening times are:
Wed: 4pm – 10:30pm
Thurs: 4pm – 10:30pm
Fri: 4pm – 10:30pm
Sat: 11am – 10:30pm
Sun: 11am – 10:30pm
Last entry is 9:30pm
We offer a range of ticket prices:
Pay What You Can – Recommended Price £15
Off-Peak – £15
Standard – £20
Peak – £25
Prices vary across dates and times, so you’ll see the best available options when booking.
The Art of Mini Golf takes place throughout Battersea Arts Centre’s building.
Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London, SW11 5TN, United Kingdom
Pick up your putt, balls and scorecard from Tom’s Café, and follow the course instructions.
Play time may vary. We recommend allowing 50-60 minutes to experience the exhibition.
Golf is fun with friends. Audiences are able to enter the experience in cohorts of 5 people at a time. However, groups of more than 5 may be split into smaller groups to go through the course.
Yes, we can help you arrange a group booking and we also have corporate packages suitable for any occasion. Whether you’re just celebrating with colleagues or marking a milestone.
The Art of Mini Golf is not recommended for children under 9 years old. Entry is at parents’ discretion. Please note that one artwork contains drug references and imagery that young viewers may find disturbing.
Players under the age of 15 must be accompanied by a ticket-holding parent or guardian.
All entrants to the exhibition must hold a ticket.
Accessibility
The Art of Mini Golf is wheelchair accessible.
There is step-free access to the ground floor via a ramp at the main entrance on Lavender Hill. And there is step-free access to the first-floor via a lift.
There are accessible bathrooms available across all floors.
There is a chill-out space available on the first-floor.
If you have any queries regarding access and your visit please contact us on access@bac.org.uk
Food & Drink
Visitors can enjoy refreshments from our Clubhouse and also the pop-up bar situated along the course of The Art of Mini Golf.
We have also partnered with Yard Sale Pizza so visitors can order pizza and have it delivered to the Clubhouse.
Lavender Hill is well served with a choice of local restaurants within walking distance of Battersea Arts Centre.
Getting Here
Battersea Arts Centre is a 7-minute walk from Clapham Junction station. There are direct trains from Waterloo and Victoria, and Clapham Junction is on the Overground route from East London.
Access information: Clapham Junction has good wheelchair access. Up-to-date information on lift service at Clapham Junction is available here.
The closest Underground stations to Battersea Arts Centre are Clapham Common (Northern line) and Stockwell (Victoria line). These stations are approximately a 15-20 minute bus journey away. The 345 bus departs from outside both stations and stops outside Battersea Arts Centre.
Routes 345, 77, 87 and 156 stop on Lavender Hill outside Battersea Arts Centre. The night buses N77 and N345 also stop outside Battersea Arts Centre. Alternatively you can get a bus to Clapham Junction. See all buses from Clapham Junction here.
You’ll find bike racks in front of our building, and you can plan your cycle route using TFL Journey Planner.
Please note that we do not offer parking to the general public. Most roads around Battersea Arts Centre have residential and restricted parking between the hours of 8am and 6:30pm, Monday to Saturday.
The nearest accessible parking spaces to Battersea Arts Centre are in the Asda Car Park on Lavender Hill. Between Battersea Arts Centre and the Asda Car Park there is some rough pavement and a small incline.
Find out more about parking with a Blue Badge in Wandsworth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Have a look at our The Art of Mini Golf FAQs page to find answers.
If you’re not able to find the information you’re looking for you can also contact our Box Office team.
Access
PRE EVENT INFORMATION
This event will take place in various spaces around the building. The ground floor has step-free access, and there is step-free access to the first floor via a lift.
This event will be Relaxed. We invite you to make yourself comfortable and move around if you need to. If you need to leave the space at any point, you will be allowed to return when you feel ready.
PERSONAL ASSISTANT/COMPANION TICKETS
If you require the assistance of a friend or helper to attend, we can make a free ticket available for your companion. You can book access companion tickets online or contact the Box Office to book by emailing boxoffice@bac.org.uk.
To book a free access companion online:
- log in to your account here
- go to ‘Other preferences’ and tick ‘I require a personal assistant/companion’.
- Choose the performance, date and seats you would like and if you add at least 2 tickets to your basket, then one of these will automatically become free.