Motus Terrae – Centre for the Arts in Public Space (Eleusis, Greece) and Dcalk (Tours, France) are creating the EleusisBox Project, a collaboration (2016-2017) for the development of their research on the public space.
Selected by the Tandem Europe program, which supports experimental collaborations between “cultural changers” in EU member states. In the framework of Tandem Europe program, Motus Terrae and Dcalk developed an original proposal around the game creation on public space and new forms of digital mediation. By working together in their territories with residents and local partners, Motus Terrae and Dcalk co-create a set of expression facilitators like maps, narratives and projections about the public space, along with a portable digital dispositive to archive, share and develop this research.
In the first placement of this Tandem project, EleusisBox took place from 12 to 22 April 2016 in Eleusis and the period 16-19 April was dedicated in the creation of the game.
On Saturday 16 April a game evening was proposed to the inhabitants of Eleusis where it was introduced the innovative project of the digital game library (Ludobox), carried by the Dcalk association. In the space of Motus Terrae in Elaourgiki, several game tables were waiting for the public to discover a collection of Print ‘n Play games, under Creative Commons license (card games, 3D board games, urban games, family games); a perfect time for the citizens of Eleusis to get familiar with independent or DIY creations, often posted on Internet, outside the traditional commercial circuit.
From Sunday 17 April to Tuesday 19 April, a game creation workshop (collaborative game design) was proposed by the team of Dcalk with the active participation of a group of residents and members of Motus Terrae.
During these three workshops, several toolkits as cards games have been introduced to reflect on the city of tomorrow (Rifts Smart City) or to identify the mechanics for the creation of a game (Mécanicartes). Participants have been asked to analyze the different “ingredients” of a game, to invent new recipes/rules and create a game from A to Z with only creative constraints the card game format and the theme of public space.
One of these workshops took place in the 1st High School of Elefsina. More specifically, Motus Terrae and the French team Dcalk had the opportunity to discover with the students the concept of public space, the spaces of Eleusis that they love and those who would like to change and played together a cards game for the future of the spaces of Eleusis like the archeological site and the central square.
Four prototypes/games about the public space of Elefsina were developed after the workshops that will allow the Franco-Greek tandemers, Motus Terrae and Dcalk to continue their research and develop a prototype bringing together these different gameplays.
With the support of Tandem Europe – an initiative which was developed by European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam) and MitOst e.V. (Berlin) together with Fondazione Cariplo (Milan). It is financially supported by Robert Bosch Stiftung (Stuttgart) and Stavros Niarchos Foundation (Athens).
EleusisBox is also supported by Eleusis21, the Municipality of Eleusis, the N.P.D.D Centre for Culture, Sports, Social Policy & Preschool Education and the French Institute of Athens.
