By Chancy Quan
A quick question: When you think of playgrounds, what’s the first scene that pops into your mind?
Whether it’s a brightly coloured modern slide, or a dirt-covered old tyre, you’ll find something that speaks to your memories at The Playground Project Melbourne.
As a trailblazing international touring exhibition, The Playground Project made its first stop in the Southern Hemisphere in June this year. Curated by Gabriela Burkhalter and conceived by Kunsthalle Zürich, The Playground Project Melbourne is presented in the city’s west thanks to the Moonee Valley City Council.
Nestled by the Maribyrnong River at the Incinerator Gallery, the exhibition explores how play influences our suburbs and shapes our imaginations. It features visuals, archival materials, and case studies spanning from the late 19th century to the early 21st century.
Unlike any other exhibition, The Playground Project Melbourne also brings four interactive playground displays, welcoming all kids to join in climbing, crawling, jumping, and falling freely.
City of Moonee Valley Mayor, Ava Adams, says: “We’re really excited to have this exhibition here where children can develop their physicality, creativity and social skills.”
Believing that playgrounds offer a unique educational experience beyond everyday learning, Mayor Adams adds that this exhibition also helps make Moonee Valley a preferred place for artists to work and live.
“When you have a really lovely arts and culture scene, it attracts people from all over the place,” she says.
The exhibition’s guest curator, accomplished Swiss urban planner and political scientist Gabriela Burkhalter, says: “The Playground Project in Melbourne celebrates the importance of children’s play while reimagining the design of our public spaces and neighbourhoods.” To create a uniquely Australian iteration of the Project, this exhibition includes a series of works by local artists.
Melbourne-based BoardGrove Architects designed the Ringtales Playground to honour the Maribyrnong River, drawing inspiration from its underground water table and mapping an aerial view of its waterways. This installation also celebrates the river’s Woi-wurrung name, translating to “I can hear a ringtail possum”.
The once-outdoor concrete forms of brutalist architecture are reimagined in soft, recycled, confetti-coloured foam in The Brutalist Playground – an immersive installation by Australian visual artist Simon Terrill and UK design studio Assemble. The work explores post–World War Two urban design for childhood and play in the UK.
Children can be vulnerable, but also can be resilient. Through case studies from Europe, Asia, and Australia, playgrounds also showcase how children played in bombed-out areas or built playgrounds in places devastated by earthquakes. A coil of rope became a swing. Discarded metal sheets were transformed into makeshift slides. Old fishing nets turned into climbing frames.
Ms Burkhalter believes playgrounds can provide a sense of home to children growing up in difficult circumstances.
“Life may be tough for them, but then, they have somewhere to go,” she says.
In a major coup for Melbourne, Incinerator Gallery has acquired the Lozziwurm Playground by Yvan Pestalozzi, which will remain in MVCC for children to play on after the exhibition concludes on October 12. MVCC has also commissioned a brand-new First Nations Playable Public Art sculpture by Edwina Green, that will take up permanent residence alongside the mighty Maribyrnong River.
Children aged 12 and under are free with an accompanying adult. For more information and ticket bookings, please visit:
Chancy Quan is a journalism graduate from the University of Melbourne
