A playground is not what you would expect to see in an art gallery. Swiss urban planner and curator, Gabriela Burkhalter, wants to change that.
Developed as an internationally touring exhibition, Burkhalter created The Playground Project to encourage viewers to think more deeply about the importance of play and its role in fostering independence. “For children, a playground is an invitation to see they are no longer under the influence and control of adults but within their own realm,” explains Burkhalter. “Children are often bored in a gallery, so play is an invitation to approach art from a new point of view.”
Yvan Pestalozzi’s Lozziwurm (1972/2025), a huge serpentine pipe bedecked with orange and yellow stripes, has remained a central feature throughout the exhibition tour, while photographs, video and archival materials from Burkhalter’s decades-long research are also included. “There are many images of outstanding play sculptures, some by well-known artists such as Niki de Saint Phalle and Isamu Noguchi,” she says.
The inclusion of local content is important to Burkhalter. The exhibition includes visual references to The Cubbies, the adventure playground first brought to Australia from London by Melbourne woman Joan Healy, and The Venny, a communal backyard in JJ Holland Park in Melbourne’s Kensington. Artist Emily Floyd and interior designer Mary Featherston are also producing work for the Melbourne iteration of the project.
Speaking about the connection between art and playgrounds, Jade Niklai, head of visual and public art at Incinerator Gallery, describes the exhibition as a living archive of what is possible. “By the middle of the twentieth century, cultures around the world had completely different approaches to playgrounds. Artists, designers and city planners all bring imagination and creativity to play spaces, allowing more freedom to play and be OK with taking educated risks.”
The Playground Project
Incinerator Gallery
28 June—12 October
This article was originally published in the July/August 2025 print edition of Art Guide Australia.
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