This collaborative project between Ívar Ölmu and Riccardo Vailati stems from a number of questions concerning childhood, the loss of innocence, maturity, and awareness.

Inspired by the work of Thomas Hirschhorn and the research of Aldo van Eyck, their research focuses on the childhood playground: a multi-layered place where imagination and light-heartedness come together. Throughout their process, the playful work developed links to different aesthetic contexts, from churches and castles, to circus tents and paper rockets, and from a ramshackle shelter to the storage of rudimentary toys.

The artists treat the project as a research centre, exploring different ways in which people engage with playgrounds and similar public places, how these places change as we grow up, and how our understanding of play and our awareness shift over time. The audience is invited to engage with the work by answering questions displayed inside the structure. In doing so, their answers become part of the research collection and contribute to the ongoing process.

The work is titled LEIKVÖLLUR SAGRA, combining an Icelandic word related to the subject in question with an Italian word meaning “festival,” although its meaning is more closely connected to people, traditions, and a sense of community.