Playable City Tokyo Residency Begins

Watershed and the British Council are delighted to announce the two UK creatives who won the Playable City Tokyo Residency 2018 Open Call.

Bristol-based designer Tom Metcalfe and London play scholar, Sophie Sampson will begin the first part of the two-stage residency in Tokyo today, June 26.

The residency is an opportunity to collaboratively research and develop playful ideas at the intersection of art, technology, society that innovate around public space in Tokyo, and start a new kind of city conversation through play.

Building on the work of an ongoing Playable City Tokyo programme, the Playable City Tokyo 2018 Residency will support, inspire and challenge participants to develop playful interventions using creative technology to respond to public space in and around Tokyo. Participants will create and deliver prototype experiences for the public and attendees of the Making the City Playable Conference in Tokyo on 28-29 September 2018.

Playable City Tokyo launched in 2015 to develop imaginative new ideas for urban spaces and to engage communities in thinking about the future of Tokyo (particularly in the run up to the 2020 Olympic Games). Building on the success of the Playful Welcome Lab in 2016, the Playable City Tokyo 2018 Residency is the latest step in the process.

Phase One of the programme is a research visit to Tokyo to meet local creatives, explore, research and ideate around experiences and prototypes for public space in and around central Tokyo. Phase Two is a production visit to Tokyo in September to test and finalise the presentation of the prototype pieces for the attendees of the Making the City Playable Conference 2018 and the general public.

Hilary O’Shaughnessy, Watershed’s Playable City Producer says:

“Watershed are delighted to bring such exciting artists to Tokyo for this two part residency.

Both Tom and Sophie bring a really interesting mix of experience and curiosity to the ever-expanding Playable City Tokyo family. Since 2015, together with our brilliant partners we have been changing the way people see and experience Tokyo and we’re looking forward to seeing how this develops.”

The Playable City Residency 2018 is produced by Watershed in collaboration with the British Council, with special cooperation from Rhizomatiks and JKD Collective Inc.

The Playable City Tokyo Residency 2018 is a Tokyo Tokyo Festival Grant Program and is supported by Arts Council TokyoTokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture.

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