Playbour is a collaborative ensemble that uses play as a series of methods, mode of inquiry and critical making. For The Children’s Sensorium, Playbour activated the space in the form of the Mobile PlayStation participatory installation. Informed and guided by Boon Wurrung Elder N’Arweet Carolyn Briggs and her word cards, we adapted a series of postcards with these Boon Wurrung words and ran a series of workshops that activated the cards in different ways.
Words included Noogal (Belong), Durrung (Heart), Ngulu (Voice), Womin Djeka (to come with purpose), Bagwan (Life), Yabber (Talk), Weelam (Home/ Camp), Barrbonneed (Happy). The cards operated as invitations or “cultural probes” for the audience to respond to. William Gaver et al. (1999) coined the term “cultural probes” to denote “prompts” for creative responses that draw on the participant’s lived experience—such as photos, drawing and creative writing. Cultural probes seek to give voice to tacit, embodied or silent meanings.
