Play Interact Explore at BALTIC
Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor
BALTIC explores play this winter, with a brand new exhibition sure to delight even the youngest art lovers. Fun and thoroughly interactive, Play Interact Explore is full of treasures just waiting to be discovered.
Play Interact Explore was developed by Leap Then Look (artists Lucy Cran and Bill Leslie), in collaboration with community groups in Eastbourne and Brighton.
The exhibition is one of a number of offerings that explore play in art settings (to the delight of parents everywhere), not unlike the recent show at Liverpool’s Bluecoat: Roxy Topia and Paddy Gould: Let Your Ideas Come Back As Children. Along with shows that focus on motherhood and care, this family-friendly display is a step in a lovely direction that makes children and their families feel seen, and one that acknowledges the importance of imaginative play in practice.
The show is, of course, a space of fun and possibility for children but don’t think you can’t have a go either! Everything is right in front of you ready to have fun with, so… you might as well!
What can you actually do at Play Interact Explore? You’ll find large tactile objects that are sculptures and playthings at once, that you can climb, move and push. A bright orange tube hangs from the ceiling and a wall of soft shapes invites you to stroke, fold and move them around the room to combine with the three-dimensional objects to create new compositions. At the back of the room you’ll find more wooden sculptures, this time with colourful fabrics.
Once you’ve explored the larger sculptures there’s an activity area too with bits of wire and wooden parts that you can use to create your very own, mini artworks. Look around the room for inspiration and enjoy manipulating the shapes – afterwards, leave your creations in the galley for the next visitors to admire. Treat the rooms like your playground! It’s not very often that we get full permission to touch and move everything in an art gallery so this is an unmissable chance to get playful.
