In the series Let’s play with… we ask a duo of maker and young person about a form of Play Around and how they recognize themselves in it.
We speak with Gerbrand and Narmin, who created a more-than-ordinary jacket together for the Wearable Stories project. ”In mutual balance, we come closer to each other,” says Narmin.
She sits next to Gerbrand, with whom she made the coat titled De Infinity last year. There is laughter. They are two arms in one coat. Indeed, their joint creation is a unique coat. Sleek and high closed, but colorful inside. With elements from her bedroom, including a flattened can of Red Bull and a stuffed toy of Bambi. The coat is part of Raven, with their project Wearable Stories. A project that tells the story of young people who fall outside society. But deserve to be seen for that very reason. Raven therefore sought contact with young people from care institutions such as Cordaan in Amsterdam and Elker Jeugdzorg in Groningen. Together with the makers of Raven and fashion brand Bonne Suits, the youngsters designed various jackets that show their experiences and struggles. In this way, the jacket reflects the situation of the young person in question. Narmin’s is no exception. The outside shows how she presents herself to the outside world, the inside what she feels but does not always want to show. What makes it even more unique: the coat is worn by policy makers, artists and the audience of Young Hearts to carry the story of the young person.
In the creation process, they played with ideas to come up with a creation together. Talking to each other, listening to each other. ”And that’s the power of playing together,” Gerbrand says. ”You can only play together when you hear each other. Then you enter another world: each other’s.” After a time of sketching and trying things out, Narmin indicated she was missing something. Drawings. The symbol for playfulness. She found it difficult at first to state her wishes, the fear of asking too much of the other person.” In the conversations, we eventually looked for balance and in this we found each other. Gerbrand was very chill about it, which relieved.” He nods and laughs. ”That was really a beautiful moment. Giving back and saying you didn’t like it. You took yourself seriously and at the same time I felt myself taken seriously,” Gerbrand says. For her part, Narmin nods as well. ”That I put myself first, I found very powerful of myself,” she beams.
Being playful together is important, Narmin believes. Alone you can do a lot, but together you are stronger. ”The idea of such a coat had not occurred to myself,” she says. ”Besides, I couldn’t have done it alone; it came from the pleasant collaboration with Gebrand.” Addressing vulnerabilities in a playful way also came up in her creative therapy. ”Making a personal, physical mask brought me closer to myself. It was like making the coat. Through playfulness, I understood myself better.”
According to Narmin Play Together, should be embraced as much as possible. ”People often feel that they are stuck, that life feels like punishment. But you can look at it from so many different ways. Life is not black and white, but full of color.” That you don’t let yourself be limited, but open. ”From hobbies to life choices. Things you won’t normally do. And you don’t have to do everything alone. By playing together you bring not only yourself, but also the other person further.”
Jonge Harten 2024 has a playful mindset: Play Around. An invitation to blow up existing frameworks, to claim your own place, to make your own choices and try out new things. In short: to play around! Because then you will see that you will come to new insights and experiences. And play, of course, can be done in many different ways. Today we dive into the form: play together. By playing together, you strengthen each other and yourself at the same time.
Play around