Build Create Play | Public Artwork for Ronald Street Playground
Build Create Play (2022). Photo by Ismail Khokon
Developed by Ismail Khokon with Charlotte Tupper, The Toy Library and young people from Radford
Build Create Play is a project working with local families and young people around Ronald Street Playground in Radford. The playground is located over the road from Primary and felt like a neglected space, that was earmarked for redevelopment. The project started as a way to ensure local people’s ideas contributed to decisions about the playground, and centre play and children’s voices in public space.
Nottingham City Council were successful in applying for funding for redeveloping the playground. Two designs were shared with local children and families, who voted on the winning design - which was installed and launched in summer 2023.
After two years of regular creative play sessions, Build Create Play has developed to create a public artwork for the new playground. The artwork is being designed by artist Ismail Khokon through a series of creative workshops with local children – exploring what play means to them and the materials, shapes and colours that spark their imaginations. Artist Charlotte Tupper and playworker Ben Rodgers have co-developed the project with Ismail and the young people.
Alongside the artwork on the playground, we have launching a new set of Build Create Play banners on Primary’s Facade.
The project has been funded by Nottingham City Council as part of the redevelopment of Ronald Street Playground, through the creation of a fixed frame to house a public art wall. The ongoing sessions for children are supported by The Toy Library and Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges and The People’s Health Trust. Thanks to Mellers Primary School for ongoing involvement in the project.
Partner Bios:
Ismail Khokon is a British Bangladeshi socially engaged artist and photographer whose work explores the important relationship between identity, migration, heritage, displacement, health, wellbeing and environmentalism. He utilises his own lived experience to collaborate with others and to highlight the experiences of marginalised communities and challenge the prevailing concepts of multicultural Britain.
His work has most recently been featured in Format 23 international Photography Festival as part of the Hidden Worlds exhibition (Derby 2023), Freedom exhibition, National Justice Museum (Nottingham 2023), Photo Fringe (Brighton 2022), LOOK Photo Biennial (Liverpool 2022), Format 21 International Photography Festival (Derby 2021), and Diffusion International Photography Festival (Wales 2021). He was awarded a Developing Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England in 2022. Ismail also plays an active role in the region's visual arts ecology. He is on the Steering Group for the Contemporary Visual Arts Network, East Midlands (CVAN EM), and is an artist Member at Primary. This year he became one of the jury members of the selection panel for the NAE Open 2023.
Charlotte Tupper is a multi-disciplinary artist specialising in textile art, with a particular focus on a participatory approach to working. Charlotte co-ordinates projects which are heavily shaped by community exchange, social connections and a collaboration of ideas. She enjoys working in a variety of settings from care homes to refugee camps, museums to international festivals.
Her artistic practice explores the role of legacies and relics as a means of proving one’s existence. She is fascinated by the choices we make and what we choose to leave behind. You can find out more about her projects and exhibitions here: www.thetuppermuseum.com
The Toy Library is a community charity based in Bulwell and working across Nottingham City. A key part of their work is delivering playwork based sessions to 5-13 year olds and their families in parks and open spaces across Nottingham. Other projects include the Family Mentor Service, with their ‘Room To Play’ venue in the centre of Bulwell and woodland play sessions at Barkers Wood. They believe that every child benefits from belonging to a family and every family benefits from belonging to a community. Their purpose is to work alongside and support children, families and communities to develop, grow and thrive together through play. That might sound simple, but it can be complex. It's often challenging and it is always exciting!
Access: The public artwork is accessible to all and can be viewed on Ronald Street Playground, Radford. The banners on Primary’s façade can be viewed from Ilkestone Road. To see them up close, visitors can access the garden through Small Food Bakery during opening hours. This area is not wheelchair accessible.