I’ve never been to PIFA (the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts), but I may have to find some time in my schedule to see this exhibit/performance that’s for the kid in all of us.
Photo Credit: Martin Reddy
OK, so officially Paper Planet is recommended for ages 3-8, but there’s a little bit in all of us that loves to create with paper: origami cranes, maybe, or paper airplanes, or folded fans, or those fortune telling things we all made in our tween years. (My husband’s specialty is a perfect cube.) Paper is the perfect medium for creativity; that is to say, the physical act of creation.
Paper Planet is an experience being brought to Philadelphia for the first time, by the Austrialian-based theater company Polyglot Theatre. Basically, it allows the time and space for children to create a world of paper, which stays long enough for other children to discover and play in and build upon. It’s a collaborative work of art, an open ended performance, a shared experience, and ultimately an ephemeral exhibit. Pretty neat, eh?
Paper Planet is a spectacular forest of tall cardboard trees inviting kids and adults to fill the world with fantastic paper creations. Each of the individual pieces that form the complete work are interactive engagements that draw upon the imagination and action of children and families to play, explore, invent and encounter through touch, action and drama. Each experience has at its core the belief that children must be given open-ended opportunities that allow them freedom, agency, and a space to engage imaginatively without mediation.
If you are in the area and have the time, make sure to stop in and experience Paper Planet for yourself! It’s taking place in the Hamilton Garden inside the Kimmel Center, from Saturday April 9th through the 23rd. Tickets are $15, you can order them online here.