NOMADIC PLAY LABORATORY
The ‘Nomadic Play Laboratory’ is a creative and research project initiated by the Til Collective, which seeks ways to reinvent our collective experience of objects and places through playful bodies and minds.
‘Brincar’ (free play), which the Portuguese language distinguishes from ‘jogar’ (gaming), is the freest form of creation we develop as individuals, particularly – though not exclusively – during childhood. It is an experience that always takes a context as its starting point, but which inhabits a place without borders.
How, then, can we learn through play the true meaning of an open work, one that places agency in the subject and in the affection and curiosity generated by each encounter?
Initially, we worked with three classes from three primary schools in different areas. We asked the pupils what ‘playing’ is and what distinguishes it from ‘games’, putting into practice activities that combine open-ended materials with the children’s imaginations and references.
The exercises sought to diminish any sense of purpose, expectation or ownership, encouraging focus and engagement with the possibilities of what is happening in the moment.
One of the proposals involved a period of free play outside the school, followed by a group drawing of the School Playground Map. This map was inspired by three questions: What is in your school playground? What games do you play there? What things would you like to see or happen there?
Each child was also encouraged to look around their surroundings for materials that might be suitable for play and to explain how they might be used.
The Encyclopaedic Inventory of Found Objects also asked for the properties of each object to be analysed in detail (weight, size, sound, etc.).
The work carried out in each school resulted in a kit for free play, which was left with the schools; it consisted of everyday materials, some of which were brought in by the pupils to be shared with the whole school.
In a second phase, involving performances at various festivals, the project focused on the challenge of how to bring playfulness to adults and how to create the right circumstances and an invitation to play for a general audience. This gave rise to what we called ‘Infinite Games’.
Tipo de projecto: Criação e Investigação
Local: Distrito de Leiria
Data: Novembro 2025 / Agosto 2026
Projecto geral: Laboratório Nómada do Brincar
Criação, coordenação, desenho e construção: Colectivo Til
Membros colectivo Til: João Gonçalo Lopes, Diogo Monteiro, Luisa Capalbo, Patrick Hubmann
Participantes: Turma do 4º ano Escola Básica da Gandara do Olivais, Turma do 2º Escola Básica da Moita, Turma do 3º ano Escola Básica do Reguengo do Fetal
Apoio à Gestão e Produção: Carolina Gameiro
Comunicação: Eva Vieira
Video: Bruno Monteiro, Rodrigo
Animação: Bruno Monteiro
Fotografia: Colectivo Til
Parcerias: Plano Nacional das Artes, Aldeia Pintada, Espaço Serra, Teatro Stephens
Apoio financeiro: Direcção Geral das Artes
Gestão Financeira: Paredes Meias
Agradecimentos: Professora Joana Portela, Professora Joana SImões, Professora Paula Pereira