{"id":6936,"date":"2020-01-30T15:19:15","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T15:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/?p=6936"},"modified":"2020-01-31T08:54:05","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T08:54:05","slug":"play-well-at-the-wellcome-collection-discover-the-transformative-power-of-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/01\/play-well-at-the-wellcome-collection-discover-the-transformative-power-of-play\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Play Well\u2019 at The Wellcome Collection: Discover the transformative power of play"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It has been said before that play is the essential work of Childhood. So, why do we play? This is the question being explored at a brand new exhibition \u2018Play Well\u2019 at the Wellcome Collection.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This free exhibition seeks to investigate the concept of play. How important is it for all of us, young or old? What does it mean to play well? The exhibition encourages visitors to consider the impact of play in our lives.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/9cd024b3-cfeb-4f52-8ad5-2cbe7591730f_print_008_TF_191022_4590079-HDR-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6939\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/9cd024b3-cfeb-4f52-8ad5-2cbe7591730f_print_008_TF_191022_4590079-HDR-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/9cd024b3-cfeb-4f52-8ad5-2cbe7591730f_print_008_TF_191022_4590079-HDR-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/9cd024b3-cfeb-4f52-8ad5-2cbe7591730f_print_008_TF_191022_4590079-HDR-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/9cd024b3-cfeb-4f52-8ad5-2cbe7591730f_print_008_TF_191022_4590079-HDR.jpg 1338w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Play Well\u2019 explores how play transforms both childhood and society. Using displays of historic toys and games, artworks and design, this exhibition investigates how play develops social bonds, emotional resilience and physical wellbeing.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPlay should be afforded the same elegance and respect as any other subject,\u201d says curator Shamita Sharmacharja. And she\u2019s right, from examining the ad-hoc \u2018play labs\u2019 set up by humanitarian organisations for children in refugee camps to scrutinising modern-day fears of gaming addiction, \u2018Play Well\u2019 shows how play underpins the full gamut of human experience.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/a6ed12dc-1e8d-458b-8cb9-9ab0060bdd2c_print_018_TF_191022_4600136-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6940\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/a6ed12dc-1e8d-458b-8cb9-9ab0060bdd2c_print_018_TF_191022_4600136-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/a6ed12dc-1e8d-458b-8cb9-9ab0060bdd2c_print_018_TF_191022_4600136-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/a6ed12dc-1e8d-458b-8cb9-9ab0060bdd2c_print_018_TF_191022_4600136-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/a6ed12dc-1e8d-458b-8cb9-9ab0060bdd2c_print_018_TF_191022_4600136.jpg 1338w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the exhibition is not primarily an interactive experience, video games, a virtual sand tray and artist Adam James\u2019s commission inspired by LARP (live-action role play), for example, are all objects that offer hands-on participation.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The curators worked with child-development experts and play therapists which led them to become interested in the play instinct and where it comes from. This instinct is innate, but if it\u2019s not given the right conditions to flourish, it disappears.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06bfaba6-c1d3-4be6-8f0b-b541da74312d_4k_051_TF_191022_4610157-HDR-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6941\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06bfaba6-c1d3-4be6-8f0b-b541da74312d_4k_051_TF_191022_4610157-HDR-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06bfaba6-c1d3-4be6-8f0b-b541da74312d_4k_051_TF_191022_4610157-HDR-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06bfaba6-c1d3-4be6-8f0b-b541da74312d_4k_051_TF_191022_4610157-HDR-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/01\/06bfaba6-c1d3-4be6-8f0b-b541da74312d_4k_051_TF_191022_4610157-HDR.jpg 1338w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Young people also had a hand in the design of the exhibition: the show\u2019s designers worked with children aged five to eleven from Argyle Primary School in Camden to devise aspects like the font and furniture.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, \u2018Play Well\u2019 showcases the transformative power of play \u2013 along with the dangers of curtailing the opportunity to do so. With its fun design and reminders of childhood pastimes, it awakens play instincts that may have lain dormant for years.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Free Entry &#8211; the exhibition runs till 8 March 2020<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wellcome Collection<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>183 Euston Road<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>London&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NW1 2BE<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has been said before that play is the essential work of Childhood. So, why do we play? This is the question being explored at a brand new exhibition \u2018Play Well\u2019 at the Wellcome Collection.&nbsp; This free exhibition seeks to investigate the concept of play. How important is it for all of us, young or &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/01\/play-well-at-the-wellcome-collection-discover-the-transformative-power-of-play\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":6946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6936"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6942,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6936\/revisions\/6942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}