The ‘Playing With Power’ project explores what happens when you shine a light on the stories from Sheffield’s sanctuary-seeking community and re-imagine them as a videogame. It’s a collaborative project between Stand and Be Counted Theatre, The National Videogame Museum and Biome Collective.
Stand & Be Counted is the UK’s first and leading Theatre Company of Sanctuary. It is committed to making work with and for people seeking sanctuary (refugees, asylum seekers and new migrants). SBC have helped to facilitate the sessions and support their students to tell their stories through designing a videogame. The National Videogame Museum has provided the backdrop and organisational management of the project. The NVM helped to facilitate and support all parties throughout the process. Biome Collective is a creative studio, community and co-working space for people to create, collaborate and explore new frontiers in games, digital art and technology.
Biome, working with SBC and NVM are the producers of the project, coordinating the session content and final exhibition.
The overall objectives of the project are to challenge conventional videogame narratives, promote inclusivity, engage underrepresented audiences through digital innovation and make the NVM a more relevant space for all of our communities. Rosie from Stand and Be Counted Theatre (SBC) says, “This type of project is unique because opportunities for learning about videogame technology is not easily accessible to people seeking sanctuary. The prospect of making theatre more accessible through games is really exciting.”
Through a series of workshops, the three organisations have worked collaboratively to empower a group of young students from SBC. The workshops empowered them to design and develop their very own videogame ideas, characters and music. The final results will all be showcased at the National Videogame Museum in Autumn 2023.
“Students are normally really shy but with Playing with Power, they were so confident and enthusiastic from the outset”.
One of the biggest surprises from this project was the impact that it had on the participants. To see their enthusiasm and creativity was extremely powerful. “Students are normally really shy but with Playing with Power, they were so confident and enthusiastic from the outset,” said Firas from SBC. Their passion to continue learning outside of the session has really ignited a spark for a new career pathway for some of the participants. Many now want a career in the videogame industry. Dilbreen (12) said “It’s been fun and exciting! Working with new people has been the best part. It has helped me because I really want to be a programmer in the future.”
Throughout the project it was clear to see the journey that the participants had been on. Building their confidence each week and creative abilities enabled them to have the self belief that the opportunities are out there for them.
The students felt empowered though the whole process, feeling like their voices were being heard. “We’ve experienced things that we have never experienced before”, said Abdullah (12). Tefal (14) added, “I love making characters that represent me in a game.” We’re so proud to have their work and cultural representation on show in the National Videogame Museum.
Stacey Jubb, Head of Learning at the NVM said, “Personally, it is one of the most rewarding projects that I have ever been involved with, especially seeing the impact of the project that it was having on the individuals in terms of confidence building and skills. All parties involved were a pleasure to work with! We created a welcoming environment which allowed a student led approach to ‘powerful’ storytelling through creativity which was truly inspirational. The students were vocally very grateful for the opportunity that they had been given. They were very keen to share their stories, ideas and work with wider audiences.”
The exhibit will document the learning process, outputs and impact of the project in an eye-catching and creative way. This people centred approach to working connects with our wider community engaging audiences both during and after its creation.
The exhibit will include digital displays featuring interviews and videos from the completed workshops. Objects and artwork created by the participants throughout the project will also accompany the digital materials.
Launching the 7th October 2023.
Playing with Power is a project commissioned by the National Videogame Museum, working in collaboration with resident artists BIOME Collective, and Stand and Be Counted Theatre. The project has been funded by the Museums Association through a grant from their Digital Innovation and Engagement Fund, supported by URKI (UK Research and Innovation) and the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council.)
More information about the Digital Innovation and Engagement Fund can be found here.
