In October of 2014, the second PlayPublik Festival turned Krakow into a public playground.

Initiated by the Goethe Institute and curated by Invisible Playground, PlayPublik is a large event that transforms mundane places into interactive playgrounds. In 2014, the event featured more than fifty artists and designers who invited inhabitants and visitors alike to experience public spaces from a new angle. The event featured Public Games as well as a series of workshops and conversations - the aim of the Festival is to challenge the rules of urban spaces by making new, more playful ones.

Dr. Jussi Holopainen, Co-Director of GEElab Europe collaborated with Martin Nerurkar (Sharkbomb Studios) to contribute to the festival with the ‘Relieve your Burden Relay Race Ball’. The objective was to roll a giant red ball across the historic city center of Krakow. At the start the players had to confess a secret personal burden to the Game Master, who ritually transferred the burden to the ball. The players recruited passersby on the way to ritually cleanse the ball from the burdens. As the ball was passed on, the personal secrets, regrets and burdens of the past got symbolically shared and released.

Dr. Jussi Holopainen explains that "playful public interventions, such as the games presented at PlayPublik festival, are a strategy to make the everyday life in urban environments more lively, engaging, and livable."

The weather was nice and the players and the complete strangers recruited on the way had fun rolling a gigantic red ball through the beautiful downtown Krakow.

Links:

Playpublik Homepage: http://www.playpublik.pl/en/artists

Goethe Institute: http://www.goethe.de/ins/pl/lp/prj/spi/enindex.htm

Invisible Playground: http://www.invisibleplayground.com/en/welcome

Relieve your burden relay Race Ball: http://www.playpublik.pl/admin/events/relieve-your-burden-relay-race-bal...

Photo credited under creative commons to Invisible Playground:

https://secure.flickr.com/people/invisibleplayground/