SHOPYARD

Open Studio
PLAYBOX 
by Maria João Petrucci

14 March 2025 
16:00 - 20:00
Free / Children (4 - 8 years old)

18:30
Public Presentation

The Shopyard headquarters, located in Santa Cruz Shopping Centre, once again opened its curtains to present the working process of the second artistic residency selected through the open call launched at the end of 2024.

PLAYBOX, a proposal by Braga-based artist Maria João Petrucci, transformed the Shopyard headquarters into a space solely dedicated to play. The installation was based on the collection and use of loose materials as a means of promoting free play. These materials — discarded, unused, and waste items — were repurposed and given new life within this artistic context.

After a process of mediation and material collection from various businesses within Shopping Santa Cruz, this installation-action, aimed at children, invited them to enter the Shopyard space and use play, imagination, creativity, and a willingness to experiment in order to create a new world with the available materials. For play remains, and continues to be, a fundamental need for the development of every child.

PLAYBOX is an activity aimed at children aged 4 to 8, accompanied by an adult, taking place at the Shopyard headquarters in Shopping Santa Cruz, between 16:00 and 20:00.

At 18:30, there will be a presentation of the working process developed by the artist during
the residency period.


Maria João Petrucci (Braga, 1993) is an artist and educator. She holds a degree in Painting from FBAUL, studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, and specialised in Artistic Practices and Pedagogical Processes. She has lived in Venice, where she worked on pedagogical and editorial projects, and in Lisbon, where she was a playworker, art educator, and coordinator of the educational service KL Kids at Kunsthalle Lissabon. Her recent artistic presentations include Não devo fazer os deveres (2024), Hors Lits #3 Lisboa (2023), and O STAND 1.4: Sem Cavalos (2020). 
https://cargocollective.com/mariajoaopetrucci