An installation on the street, commisioned by a non-government funded organisation for families - Sezam, which organises free activities for children in public spaces in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 

In My Room, the children can play and interact with eachother, make new friends, the parents can relax, bond with their children as well as chat with other parents. It is a way of creating a much needed non-commercial public space encouraging genuine interaction between strangers and play amongst children of different ages. Nowadays, in cities especially, the nuclear family, capitalism and individualism have robbed many families of a support-group that used to be the village folk, the neighbours and the extended family.

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Playgrounds are spaces where parents meet and children play together, but My Room offers something a bit different still: an intimate space inside the public space. It is much smaller and cosier, it is a living room opening in the middle of the street, and it produces a different kind of intimate interactions that a playground or a cafe never could. Children habitually settle down when playing in My Room, and parents with very small children can let them explore the soft-padded environment. Older children take care of smaller ones, read them stories and play with them. All kinds of people mingle here, and can enjoy a moment of rest and joy in a very esthetically pleasing, yet simple unique interior, as a pause in their walk or shopping.

 
 

I have selected those toys and books from the collection of Sezam, which I find pleasing to the eye, but also made from natural materials and mostly a bit old-fashioned. There is also a collection of hand-made toys from a painter and artist Anja Jerčič (Krojaček Gumb). 

 

In 2017, the Room on the street became a Fairy-tale room, which, besides the usual toys and books offered also various books of tales.

For the fairy-tale edition I created special mobile/dreamcatchers that the kids and the parents can play with, touch and observe as they move in the wind.

In 2016, I asked Luka Erdani to help me with the structure, we designed a wooden structure, which Luka made, so that we could make The room on the street even more pleasant and unique.

The Fairytale room this summer: