The Recreation Space workshops and performance project, funded by the National Lottery and in partnership with the Orchards Project in Orange Grove, took place on Saturday 15 June.
Initiated by the public art consultancy The Trinity Session in collaboration with Play Africa, a group of children under 10 presented their version of a safe space, titled A Jozi Fairy Tale, in front of Spark Gallery on Louis Road.
Organiser Stephen Hobbs explained that the intervention took the form of a site specific installation inspired by the children’s response to the tough urban conditions found in the road reserve of Louis Road. “Through a two part workshop programme which took place in April and May the ‘young designers’ worked through a series of concepts based on positive and negative perceptions they had of the street, out which a fantastical narrative was born.
“Spark Gallery hosted the various phases of the participatory process that informed various miniature stage designs, giving rise to the final installation and performance space crafted in an around the entrance to Spark Gallery.”
Hobbs added that this unique collaboration between The Trinity Session and Play Africa was founded on a mutual interest. He said this mutual interest was in the role that children can play in influencing better urban design, in particular mother and children sensitive spaces, and better places for all users of the streets of Johannesburg.
“The power of play through an art making process has led to an initiative such as recreation space proposing new futures for urban space,” he concluded.
Details: www.thetrinitysession.com
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