SHIPSHAPE Workshops

SHIPSHAPE is a 1-3H educational live action role play (LARP) around maritime trade, where teams follow a cargo shipment on a container or sailing vessel  from one side of the world to another,  contending with events in ports and at sea.  It was initiated and exhibited through Tandem Europe (support scheme for European cultural management for social impact) between 2016-2017 and still in use today as environmental curriculum in Blanau Gwent, Wales, through Head4Arts.
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WHAT: Guided by a storyteller/artist or activist, groups of participants become crews aboard a cargo ship. Stimulated through individuals story roles, maritime challenges and trading scenarios, they create their own journey grasping historical, social and environmental implications of global trade. Players act as one of three roles in a crew of shippers, navigators or traders, sketch on a logbook, negotiate trade items, discover hidden events with an iPad, advance on a knotted thread along a shipping routes, pimp their model ships, survive natural havoc and social mayhem from the 19th century to today. See more image documentation here.

HOW : Facts and research into maritime transport were translated onto a large world map combining narrative prompts with tactile objects and digital elements (iPad, AR) . The journey routes retraced that of actual historic sailing ship or a contemporary container routes. It welcomed audiences to a uniquely critical aesthetic space, reflecting influences of maritime heritage and contemporary trade practices within a global environment, all integrated into playful actions.

WHO: I was responsible for pitching, game design, visuals and coordination. We trialed different versions catered to individual community spaces, ranging from interactive storytelling to room-scale board game/role playing sessions, including a small use of AR.  It was prototyped in collaboration with a small team of artists, cultural managers and activists between Welsh community arts Head4Arts and ship restoration collective Hawila Project in Denmark, for which I was cultural manager, volunteer, and support board member between 2015-2017.

Workshops were held in Denmark, Wales, Greece and Norway in 2017, including the National Maritime Museum of Denmark. 

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