The Playground Project Melbourne

28 June 2025 - 12 October 2025

Curator: Gabriela Burkhalter
Artist:
Artists:
Location: Incinerator Gallery

The Playground Project Melbourne is an interactive, international travelling exhibition with a playground takeover. It explores a unique chapter of late 19th century to early 21st century art, design, urbanism and activism; and strives to inspire local audiences, children, students, city planners, artists and designers to imagine a bright and brilliant future for play and playground design.

Unlike any other exhibition, young visitors are invited to climb, crawl, fall and imagine their way through a whimsical and colourful exhibition display and interact with the magical playgrounds that sit at the heart of this project and takeover the Incinerator Gallery's indoor and outdoor spaces. An ambitious program of educational and public events during the exhibition foster community engagement, art and design exploration, and inspire children to live, learn and play creatively in our parks, cities and suburbs. 

1975 Lozziwurm Adliswil Heidi Gantner
Yvan Passalotti, Lozziwurm Playground, 1972 (original design). Adliswil, Switzerland, 1975. Photo: Heidi-Gantner. Courtesy The Playground Project.
PNG brown whaleyard 6028
Joseph Brown, Whale, c. 1955. Photo: anon. Courtesy The Playground Project.
PNG 132 1969 道の巨大遊具 03 (1)
Mitsuru Senda, Giant Path Play Structure, Mukoyama Children’s Park Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, 1969. Photo: Yoshio Shiratori. Courtesy of Environment Design Institute, Tokyo & The Playground Project.

A brief history

The last 150 years have witnessed four phases in the art and development of playground design. The first, dating from 1880, saw social reformers take children off the streets and onto playgrounds. The second, going strong during the 1930s, nurtured the belief – especially in Scandinavia – that children play best in a natural setting. From 1968 onwards, local community groups and creative collectives began to build their own playgrounds fuelled by a sense of self-empowerment and the proliferation of self-help books. The fourth phase, launched by the economic challenges and reforms of the 1980s, heralded the decline of utopian thought in art and design, and the state’s role as commissioner and caretaker of playgrounds in urban spaces. This onset of a crisis in urban planning and playground design continues even today to challenge communities across many cultures, languages, social systems, economic and political realities worldwide.

Yvan Pestalozzi, Lozziwurm (1972/2025). The Playground Project Melbourne. Photo Timothy Burgess. Courtesy Incinerator Gallery Moonee Valley City Council
Yvan Pestalozzi, Lozziwurm (1972/2025). The Playground Project Melbourne. Photo Timothy Burgess. Courtesy Incinerator Gallery Moonee Valley City Council

The exhibition brings together carefully selected photographs, videos, archival materials and texts of key case-studies from Continental Europe, United Kingdom, America, Asia, Africa and Australia. They are featured alongside three playground displays, where kids are invited to kinetically engage with the ideas and enjoy real-time play and interaction.

CURATED BY:

EXHIBITION DESIGN BY:

Australian content

monkeybar with kid
BoardGrove Architects, The Ringtales Playground, 2025. Courtesy BGA and Incinerator Gallery MVCC.
The Brutalist Playground, 2015-2025 by Simon Terrill and Assemble. Photo Timothy Burgess. Courtesy Incinerator Gallery Moonee Valley City Council
The Brutalist Playground, 2015-2025 by Simon Terrill and Assemble. Photo Timothy Burgess. Courtesy Incinerator Gallery Moonee Valley City Council
Round Table (with kids)
Mary Featherston AM and Emily Floyd, Round Table, 2017-2025. Photo Timothy Burgess, Courtesy Incinerator Gallery MVCC.
Ripple prints with kids
Emily Floyd, Ripple, 2013-14 (Incinerator Gallery, 2025). Courtesy Emily Floyd
recreation on moonee ponds creek
Emily Floyd, Recreation on Moonee Ponds Creek, 2025. Digital print on MDF. Commissioned by MVCC for Incinerator Gallery. Courtesy Emily Floyd.
Concept design by Edwina Green, prepared by Lump Studio
The Cubbies (Fitzroy Adventure Playground. Circa 1990, Courtesy The Cubbies (2)
The Cubbies (Fitzroy Adventure Playground. Circa 1990, Courtesy The Cubbies.

Public Programs

Project Partner:

Media Partners:

Program Partners:

Major Partner: 

Education Partner: