Land art as a recreational approach for adults to cultivate social participation: an arts-based engaged ethnography

This project explores the impact of adult playfulness and social participation through the methods of land art and arts-based engaged ethnography, demonstrating the role of play in enhancing adults’ sense of accomplishment and community cohesion. Due to societal constraints on adult roles in modern contexts, opportunities for relaxation and recreation are often limited. This study aims to challenge conventional notions by designing activities encouraging adults to embrace playfulness within natural environments and communal settings while investigating how these activities provide emotional support and connectedness. Near the Miyahara Coal Mine Pit in Omuta, Japan, relevant stakeholders in Japan, the Strategic Design Advanced Project course of the Kyushu University, and Omuta City, organised a collaborative land art workshop demonstrating how art-based approaches could foster community cohesion through cooperation, creative expression, and meaningful interaction. Using arts-based engaged ethnography (ABEE), the study further examined the emotional experiences elicited by the art activities. By integrating play into natural and social contexts, this initiative alleviates the stigma surrounding play and playfulness present in adulthood by repositioning it as a leisure activity for promoting creative community engagement in third places. This approach highlights land art’s potential to strengthen social bonds and challenge cultural biases against adult playfulness.