The event is conceived as a dynamic, interdisciplinary discussion that brings together diverse experiences and perspectives on the power of play as an educational, creative and social tool.

The title references the famous essay by Eric Berne, the father of transactional analysis, and highlights how play is a tool capable of revealing relational dynamics, stimulating awareness and expanding creativity. According to the Dutch philosopher Johan Huizinga, in his famous essay Homo Ludens, culture itself arises from play. Art, from this perspective, is one of its highest manifestations: not only because it involves rules, rituals and symbolic frameworks, but because it implies ‘pretending’, a suspension of reality that allows us to express the inexpressible and reveal the invisible.

Through the perspectives of artists, cultural professionals and representatives from the business world, the discussion – moderated by Marcello Smarrelli, Artistic Director of the Ermanno Casoli Foundation – will feature Alfio Albani, President of the Chiaravalle Montessori Foundation, who will present the Montessori pedagogical perspective, according to which play is a conscious and formative process, an integral part of a child’s growth and identity development; Manuela Alessandrini, Head of the Education Department at the Omero State Tactile Museum, who will illustrate how play can be transformed into a sensory and inclusive experience through tactile art and creative workshops; Deborah Carè, Chief Human Resources Officer at Elica, who will explain how the use of the metaphor of play in corporate training is much more than a teaching methodology; it is a transformative approach that combines emotion, experience and learning: from co-creation activities with artists in projects promoted by the Ermanno Casoli Foundation, to gamification programmes for new recruits in which participants must manage a virtual company whilst tackling realistic problems in a controlled environment; Patrick Tuttofuoco, an artist who will demonstrate how play can become pure energy; indeed, his immersive, pop-inspired installations transform spaces into collective experiences reminiscent of the world of video games; finally, Saverio Verini, Director of the Civic Museums of Spoleto, who will explore the theme of childhood as a complex territory, a space of discovery and creativity, but also of anxieties and rules to be broken, explored by many contemporary artists through works of great intensity.

The event will also feature the screening of the video from the 11th edition of E-STRAORDINARIO for Kids, created in collaboration with the artist Giovanni Termini, which recounts the creation of Dietro ai miei occhi (Behind My Eyes), a collective work symbolising transition, discovery and the possibility of looking beyond what is visible.