Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Jogo do Museu

The Museum Game was developed as a preliminary phase of the participatory project of the Sankofa Museum’s physical space, in Rocinha. Through playful language, the game seeks to engage residents in the elaboration of the museum’s programme, widening the possibility of activities to be developed in the venue.
Joana Martins

The Game

The game was developed as part of a preliminary action for the creation of an Advanced Interdisciplinary Hub of PUC-Rio (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro) inside Rocinha. It was intended to centralize the projects of different PUC-Rio departments, mobilizing professors, undergraduate, and graduate students toward the provision of technical assistance for Rocinha residents.

A group of students, professors, scholars, Rocinha residents, and members of the Sankofa Museum gathered with the aim of developing a participatory project to create a new physical venue for the museum. The goal is to work collectively with Rocinha inhabitants, from the formulation of the museum’s programme to its construction.

To listen to the residents’ demands on the museum’s future space, we organized an outdoor event with playful activities that helped stimulate the debate. The Museum Game idea was developed through conversations with Antonio Firmino, a member of the Sankofa Museum and of the Centro Lúdico (Ludic Center). From the participatory process’s point of view, the game’s intent is to engage and attract residents to a debate about the museum’s programme and architectonic plan.

The game’s board consists of an illustration of the Rocinha places where the museum activities could potentially take place. Each side of the dice represents a different venue: a rooftop, a park, a street, a block, the amphitheater, or the forest. After playing the dice, each participant plays a card with the activity he/she would like the venue to hold. The cards suggest diverse activities, which go beyond a museum’s conventional programme. There are also blank cards that can be filled during the game.

Joana Martins
Architect and Researcher
Partner: Centro Lúdico da Rocinha e EMAU DAU PUC-Rio
An architect holding a master's degree in Architecture from PUC-Rio. A Ph.D. candidate in Social History of Culture at the same institution. Martins researchers participatory processes and the relationship of democracy and the city. Experienced with game development for participatory processes.
COMMENTS

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Leave a Reply

LOGIN

OTHER PROJECTS

Chicago, USA
BOOMBOX
Denmark
ReDane
Vilnius, Lithuania
MIESTO LABORATORIJA
Detroit, USA
Detroit Cultivator
SHARE