In partnership with the British Council we are bringing ten leading international artists from across East Asia and the UK to spend next week (20-24 Feb) working together in the Pervasive Media Studio using the theme of the ‘playable city’.

These talented artists will spend the week sharing their ideas and thinking to experiment and prototype playful interventions - using creative technologies to rethink the public space around Watershed and the Harbourside.

Drawn from across varied art forms and disciplines, confirmed participants from the UK include installation artist Tine Bech, games designer Julian Sykes, sound artist Kathy Hinde, visual artist Mathew Trivett and product designer Vahakn Mattiason. International artists include Australian theatre makers Leticia Cáceres and Angela Betzien of RealTV, Japanese Product designer/sound artist Yuri Suzuki, visual artist Megumi Matsubara also from Japan, Korean design duo Bang & Lee, and Malaysian composer Ng Chor Guan.

In John Seely Brown’s work on Creation Nets, he asserts that the only way to develop innovation in a fast moving digital world is to collaborate and link knowledge across sectors and organisations. The Playable City Sprint gives these ten artists the opportunity to work in a truly collaborative manner.

One of the main objectives of this project is to create an active community of peer learning and development and also to encourage the critical and technical investigation of ideas through a process of discussion, sharing, making and testing. 

Victoria Tillotson, iShed Producer said:

"Play is a powerful tool. It can change behaviour; transform perceptions of space; and inspire audiences to participate and contribute, rather than simply observe. For this Bristol Sprint, practitioners will share ideas, exchange and experiment to enable audiences to connect across cultural boundaries. The aim is to encourage ideas – and to make valuable connections that will last beyond the end of the lab. We hope that by creating a platform at the Pervasive Media Studio for open exchange the boundaries of possibility will be pushed forward."

Neil Webb, Director Arts & Creative Industries for East Asia at the British Council said:

"The Playable City Sprint is a unique opportunity to push forward understanding and potential usage of digital technology in the arts. It links practitioners and institutions from East Asia to the UK to produce new forms of interactive, immersive and inclusive experience."

Find out more at our free lunchtime talk at the Pervasive Media Studio on Friday 24 Feb at 13:00 where you can join us for an hour on the final day of the lab to meet the participants, hear about the process and experience some of the work in development.

The Playable City Sprint is a Watershed initiative delivered in collaboration with the British Council.