Introducing some collections of toys of different children's play cultures
If you want to gain a deeper understanding of toy-making activities this part of the website is really important. Here I will describe some mobile toy collections from different countries. All the contents of these collections are focused on traditional hand-made toys, mainly made by children and for the children's folklore, using unwanted, recycled materials and simple technology, that have remarkable beauty and value. Their value goes behind people's expectation, thus stimulating an alternative, new imagery - feeding chil
dren's imagination and creativity.
Unfortunately, international organisations do not pay enough attention to these silent and forgotten children's play cultures, and to this purpouse we are going to set up a Campaign.
I am referring specifically to The Brinquedos and Brincadeiras and to the Romagnoli Toys collections. Through the passion of theirowners, visitors have the opportunity to compare today's toys with toys from other cultures. The first collection is related to the children's folklore of The Cape Green Islands. In this we can appreciate the philosophy of its owner, Marzio Marzot, a writer, photographer and school teacher, wo
rking for some organisations such as FAO and UNICEF.
The second is linked to the children's folklore from the past culture of "Villanova di Bagnacavallo", a village in the Romagna region, in Italy (the village lies between the towns of Bologna and Ravenna). Here we find an Eco-museum where a huge variety of old toys are stored. These are made by elderly "players" and keen researchers who are studying the old toys from previous generations of Romagnoli childre
n (pre-dating the Modern Age).
Natural handmade toys made by children of Moroccan and Saharan region. Children use the natural elements and natural material from their environment for their play and toy-making activities. Jean Pierre Rossie offers a short article to gives an impression of how Moroccan children use natural material (photos from the author). Many more examples are found in his books and publications on "Saharan and North African Children’s Play, games and toys" that are partially available on his website.
It is freely available "Toys in the luggage: the Maroccan handmade toys", his collection of handmade toys brought from the rural areas of Sidi Ifni. All of these toys are gift from their little makers. Children wanted to make aware adults about their local play culture. This collection is permanently on display in Italy, at the Lizard centre of Ravenna.
Creative Toys is a collection belonging to La Lucertola ("The Lizzard"), an educational centre in Ravenna directed by Roberto Papetti - a famous Italian toymaker and educator. This is a special collection of re-created mod
els of toys coming from different parts of the world, with the aim to show how toys can be used to build bridges between cultures and inspire creativity. With diligence and great Children's Natural Rights Manifesto italian version - english version) are, Roberto and Gianfranco Zavalloni (the author of the ) have built something that can invite people to recognise Una cultura ludica planetaria, the existence of "a global culture of play". A culture belonging to children's folklores across the world that is truly in danger of disa
ppearing. This is happening under our eyes for different local and global reasons.
The Global Market - with our complicity in the way we think of "develop" - is substituting difference with a multi pot, rootless, culture. Today's toys are loosing the marks of their cultural origin, so we can find the same toyused in different part of the World without connections with the player's environment of life.
Bigliodromi is another collection made by Roberto, but in this case he has created something to be seen from an aesthetic viewpoint.
The bigliodromi are playthings or tracks for playing with marbles (biglie).Their designs are based upon a witty interpretation of the adventure of Qfwfq, the main character of "Cosmicomiche" by the Italo Calvino, a well-known Italian writer. The final result is amazing.
Toys & Recyclables collection is my personal pledge to give toward World generosity. To create it, I have made a collection of toys that teach global issues such as waste education. They are inspired by traditional toys and made from recyclable every day materials, using simple technology (no electrical hand-tools). These toys invite ordinary people in get involved in the toy-making activity and convert discarded plastic bottles or other unwanted items and materials into something else. Children, parents and teachers can find pleasure and stimuli that can be incorporate into family life and school curriculum.
Medio's Kites are those handmade kites created by Medio, "the Poet of Comets". His own a
pproach to the kite’s engineering was really practical.
He never made a proper design for his hand-made kites, he only made a simple sketch,drawing with pencil on pages of old diaries. But those drafts were enough to start making incredible flying objects. Medio was always rejecting any kind of modern technology and the use of special materials. Tradition was the stream-path to complete the making tasks. These kites made him famous amongst kite-makers across the world. Often he was called to preside kite-festivals in different European and Asian towns. Many people around the world still remember him astraditional genius of the kite making art. All of them always elegant and graceful like sculptures in the air, fluctuating as dancers despite the complexity of the object. In his field he was a genius, giving to his creations innovative and unique qualities, still keeping traditional techniques and simplicity as a basis to build upon.
Now he is no longer living any more, but I remember him as joyful and cheerful man, always dedicated to his passion of making kites all of them made with natural and scrap materials. Many times and with great generosity, I saw him leading workshops for children during traditional and local festivals. Genuinely and as a gift, he was there donating his time to make simplekites.
As group of f
riends we decided to design a special website for him. If you like to know more visit www.Medioeisuoiaquiloni.it The website is only in Italian language.
Bresciani Toys is a unique collection of toys made by children at school. Unfortunately Bresciani Toys is a collection of digital pictures only, taken at an exhibition of children's handmade toys in the town of Brescia (Lombardy, Italy) in May 2004.
The associated notes tell us about a remarkable educational project which involved some local pupils. The first step of the project asked children to visit "Giocafricando". This is an exhibition of African toys held in the CEM centre (the most famous Italian global education centre). Children were asked to create toys using any kind of discarded materials.
The collection of pictures have much more attention in a different website, which is been specifically designed to collect and show images of toys made by children only, and to collect memories of toys, and games. If you are interested visit: www.ilovetoymaking.com