We’re opening a second studio in Cambridge. This month, Operations Director, Jenny Male talks with Creative Producer Anna Haydock Wilson about her role in the upcoming expansion.
Anna: Jenny, can you tell me what you’re looking forward to as Play:Disrupt opens a new office in Cambridge?
Jenny: I grew up in Cambridge so I’m excited to be connecting back to a place that I know. There’s something about the way you know a place in your youth; the back alleys, the hiding places and the snickets—like the back of your hands. I’m excited to be going back to that, but I’m curious about how things have changed as well.
Anna: ‘Snickets!” That’s a great word, I’ve not heard that before.
Jenny: That’s a Huddersfield word—I lived there as a very young child.
Anna: I’d like to hear more about the curiosity you mentioned.
Jenny: So, I haven’t lived in Cambridge properly for around fourteen plus years. A lot will have changed, and I need to accept that it’s not the same place I knew. I want to go with an open mind, and take in all that it is now. And of course, living in Bristol has changed me, too. So whilst there’s joy and excitement in returning to where I’m from, I’ve got a real interest in the impact of time on places.
Anna: Can you say more about that?
Jenny: Cambridge has grown, as has its identity as a place of tech and scientific research. It’s had a lot of investment. It seems that investment in housing has been huge there, so I am interested how community infrastructure has been considered within the rapid development. We’ve seen how it’s often lacking in places where things are growing quickly. Similarly to Bristol, it has a lot of disparity in wealth and opportunity. I think I have some fears about whether the wealth gap has been exacerbated by rapid developments. I know from already having early conversations with socially engaged artists there that there is a strong network of people who are working on these challenges and with communities. I look forward to getting under the skin of all of that.
Anna: This is where the work of Play Disrupt often happens, isn’t it? We have something to offer in places where people are interested in exploring those kinds of gaps and tensions, and working out how to address the things that are sometimes missing in community infrastructure.
Jenny: Yes. But it’s also important to me to go in as a team player. There are a lot of people who are already working there, who know these places and communities better than we do. I’m very sensitive to that, so thinking in terms of collaboration is very important in this transition for us.
Anna: So is the work you’ve been doing with the Public Map helping in that somewhat? (Public Map is a Cambridge University led project working with communities to co-create open, trustworthy data maps within a shared digital platform to reveal local need, support evidence-based action, and shape better futures)
Jenny: Yes, with Public Map, we’ve been finding groups, organisations and artists who already work in Cambridge. We’ve also made good connections with the Cambridge Room and will be doing a street pop-up in the Grafton Centre with them in July. (see Upcoming, below) I’m looking forward to that. I think one of my aims for the first few months is to meet as many people as possible and learn about all that is happening.
Anna: Good plan. Do you have a sense of what would the ideal first two or three pieces of work generated from the new Cambridge branch would be?
Jenny: One bit is definitely to tap into a network of freelancers, similar to what we have here in Bristol; play workers, artists, people doing creative public engagement, community arts; people who really work well, and playfully, with the public. I want to start to understand who’s there, what they are doing and identify areas of common interest. I think we’ll also be seeking to get involved in projects that centre the creativity and perspectives of young people. Identifying a co-design project with young people would be great. In the first instance, though, I intend to listen and observe to understand where our specific experience and skills might be of most value.
Anna: It’s an exciting development for Play Disrupt, but also for you personally.
Jenny: Yes. I’m going back to my home patch, but I get to bring Play Disrupt with me. What’s not to like?
Upcoming
Playful mapping with Public Map at The Cambridge Room
Sat 25th July, 11am-3pm
The Cambridge Room, Unit 55, The Grafton Centre (opposite Decathlon).
Play Disrupt and The Cambridge Room will host mapping activities that invite you to play, make, and share what different places in Cambridge mean to you. Drop-in – no booking required. All ages welcome.
Symbology workshops
We will be running several symbology workshops over the summer through Cardiff Child Friendly City. Watch our Linked In page, or get in touch for more information.
(the following image is a Public Map still from an animated symbol drawn by child participant as part of the symbology co-design process.)
Symbology; finding new ways to engage with our places
Malcolm and Nia recently gave a talk at Pervasive Media Studios, all about our work with Symbology and Public Map. The first part of the talk is an overview of our company and processes, with detail about symbology starting at 14:00.
Nia and Malcolm also co-facilitated a workshop about Symbology at the Festival of Place on 10 June, alongside freelancer, Holly Booker and researchers Dr Flora Samuel and Dr Zhuozhang Li from University of Cambridge. The workshop introduced Public Map’s wellbeing economy-led approach. We shared ways that mapping can make the invisible visible, through activities that uncover the hidden values, relationships, and community impacts, so often missed by conventional planning and decision-making processes. Public Map is disrupting existing place-making systems, shifting the focus away from narrow economic outputs, and toward what truly matters: people, place, and planet. Participants were introduced to different ways of mapping—drawing, layering, connecting, and re-framing experiences to see wellbeing in action. Here are some of their responses;
“Play unleashes my energy and joy and unlocks impactful stories.”
“Really well run, fun and energising. Lots of tactile items which helped the flow of conversation.”
New Workshop; Den Building for Safety
Malcolm went to Counterplay in May, hosted by the Kolding School of Design, in Denmark. His workshop explored how we can access all of the great benefits of embodied play when experiencing long-term illness, disability, burnout, fatigue and other conditions that might present barriers for participants.
Malcolm will be exploring this workshop further at the Playposium, in Exeter 22-25 June. This is an ‘experiential and creative gathering of like-minded people interested in transforming education through the power of playful pedagogy’ and looks like an exciting line up! Maybe see you there!
(the following image is from a research and development session for Den Building for Safety)
Also on our radar
Forest of the Imagination 12-21 June
This is an annual event takes place in Bath, bringing “together communities from across the city to reimagine our relationships with nature, imagination, creativity, and each other.” There is a lovely programme of workshops, events and installations open to the public. See more here.
Winner – Screendance Festival Best Welsh Short
Our Creative Engagement Producer, Nia Evans recently won an award for her dance film ‘Monday Night at Lucky Chef’ in the Short Cymraeg category at the ADRA Screendance Festival.
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