This edition of Bahar will revolve around the idea of ‘play.’ It will work around the themes of childhood, adulthood and the passage in between; namely, a series of migrations. A way to slow down this process of migration to adulthood is through active encouragement of moments of play.

The initial reading for this theme came from the book “Home Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture” by Johan Huizinga. The transition to adulthood brings with it shifting conditions in the way that work gets organized. Not only on the individual level, but on the societal level as well. The societal shifts are highly linked to the massive technological/digital transformations we are going through. While the new economic forces due to these transformations are coming to reshuffle the work and labor conditions themselves, political realities on the ground are shifting in conversation. The porousness of boundaries is being re-imagined consequently. Through the metaphors and psychological ramifications of games, play and playground, the invited participants will ruminate on topics such as families, online and offline communities and shifting structures of working and playing collectively.