nikki hafter

network artist

Play as Design Adventure - project overview

Introduction
Our past experiences have shown us that arts- and play-based activities can:
  • help people work together and communicate non-verbally
  • be a ‘way in’ to an inclusive co-design process
  • be a conduit for surfacing knowledge and experiences
  • be exciting and generate new ideas
  • inspire confidence and a sense of agency.

“Art and play are like two sides of the same coin, with play being a part of artistic expression, imagination, creativity, and curiosity… Play and the arts build the “6 C’s”: collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence.”

MAGSAMEN, S. and ROSS, I. Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us, RANDOM HOUSE, 2023.
‘Play Interact Explore’ exhibition booklet cover at the Towner Gallery, Eastbourne

Modified booklet cover by Nikki Hafter & Callum Sida-Murray
Phase 1 - Research Adventures
In this project we’ll use fuel co-design with young disabled people by takinf action-research trips to encounter art, architecture and culture. We’ll visit exhibitions, museums and gardens that invite playful engagement and creative responses.
Purple Hibiscus by Ibrahim Mahama at the Barbican
Them’s the Breaks by Resolve Collective at the Barbican
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
The Children’s Garden at Kew Gardens
The Children’s Garden at Kew Gardens

We’ll use toolkits for exploring, capturing and collecting, including ways to take photos, write and draw. Young disabled people will be able to select the materials and tools that speak to them and practice using them in a familiar setting, before packing their individual toolkits for research trips.
Talking tiles are an accessible way to collect and play back sounds
Toolkit for collecting & documenting
We’ll use ideas from the Working Together toolkit to prompt art-based responses
Handheld & wearable Go Pros to capture first person perspectives

Phase 2 - Remember, reflect and design
We’ll remember and reflect on our experiences by printing out photos, exhibiting what we collected, and using new materials to expand our ideas on paper. Then we’ll design by making and unmaking in 3D using loose parts, and document this too.