[ecrea] CfP: CounterPlay ‘19 - Playing at the Edge

CfP: CounterPlay ‘19 - Playing at the Edge

International Play Festival

April 4th – 6th 2019
Dokk1, Aarhus, Denmark
Deadline for proposals: November 19th, 2018

CounterPlay believes that play makes life more meaningful and enjoyable, 
while playful attitudes enable us to act with agency in a complex, 
globalized world.
The purpose of the CounterPlay festival is to explore, inspire and 
support play in all areas of society, building on our three main 
pillars: playful learning, playful working and playful living.

The theme of CounterPlay ’19 is “playing at the edge”, and we welcome 
different forms of proposals that reflect this in one way or another. 
The theme is open for interpretation and fresh ideas: we invite you to 
play with the theme and identify your own ways of approaching the edge.

Perhaps play is always situated right there at the edge of all the many 
disciplines required to understand it, and of understanding itself. Play 
remains at the edge of our grasp, “as an embodied, affective experience 
that cannot be fully conveyed using conventional language” (Shields, 
2015). What happens at the edge of what we know about play, and how do 
we push that edge together, making our collective understanding deeper 
and richer?

“the continued advancement of play studies depends on the recognition of 
varieties of disciplinary contributions and on strategies to integrate 
these” (Henricks, 2016)

What we call for is exactly that: bridges to be built between the 
different disciplines and domains, bringing people together from across 
the edges, to talk, think and play together. There are edges between 
research and practice, between public institutions and private 
companies, between children and adults – to name but a few.

Let’s tear down the barriers and insist that edges are interfaces rather 
than boundaries, allowing us to create new connections, foster new ideas 
and cultivate new possibilities.

Further issues to explore:

When we’re playing at the edge, we give up on certainty. How do we learn 
to navigate this uncertainty and risk, so we can keep on playing?
Sometimes play takes us to the edge of what we know. Can we consider the 
edge a vantage where we can see far into the unknown?
There are many ways of playing, and some exist at the edge of what is 
commonly accepted. Who gets to define which forms of play are legitimate 
and which are not?
Playing at the edge might take us to the edge of play, where those 
playing lose influence and agency. How can play counter that, causing 
empowerment and emancipation?
The “edge effect”, as found in ecology, shows increased diversity where 
the edges of two adjacent ecosystems overlap. Can the same happen at the 
edge of “play ecosystems”?

Formats & proposals:

We invite you to submit proposals that explore “playing at the edge” 
across different areas in society, from private companies to open public 
arenas and cultural institutions, from kindergarten to universities, 
from places of work to places of leisure. In essence, everywhere people 
work, learn and live are possible spaces for play, and we want to 
investigate what it means and how it might unfold.

The theme is a lens through which we investigate ways of thinking and 
talking about play: through conversations, workshops, dance, drawing 
ect. and – most importantly – through play. We insist that the festival 
must be a safe and inclusive space for a diverse community, where 
participatory and interactive formats can flourish, and where failure 
and risk taking is just an opportunity to learn, and where you feel 
comfortable playing with strangers.

We particularly welcome contributions from scholars within media and 
communication studies, who are interested in, for instance, aspects of 
media life related to play, such as gaming cultures, playful encounters 
on social media platforms etc.

Proposals could be for workshops, paper and panel presentations, 
maker-spaces, artworks, concerts, or take a variety of other explorative 
forms. Proposals should be no longer than 2000 characters and describe 
the core theme(s) of your contribution. How will you encourage 
participants to think and talk about play – and how will you inspire 
them to play? Additionally, we ask you to include a short bio of each 
person facilitating the session.

Submission & deadlines:

Deadline for submissions: November 19th, 2018.

Proposals are submitted through this online form:
http://www.counterplay.org/submit-proposals/

If you have questions, contact (mathias /at/ counterplay.org) who will also be 
available for questions and (online) conversations as required. We 
*love* to talk about play, so don’t hold back.

Link to call for proposals: http://www.counterplay.org/call-for-proposals/

You can also use our Facebook group to get feedback on your ideas: 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/counterplay/



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