Playground – E4

Etel Adnan’s drawing ‘Playground’ (1970) was edited into a series of prints and woven tapestries in
2016. Inspired by her childhood in Beirut, this design celebrates the artist’s unique approach to colour,
which turns large bands of paint into an abstracted, lively space.

The ‘Playground’ design combines Adnan’s spiritual engagement with the world with more intimate
sensory experiences. Dark, earthy shades are juxtaposed by brightly coloured shapes to recreate the
impression of a children’s playground, a space onto which a child may unleash unrestrained imagination,
a space where everything is possible.

While this image is emphatically celebratory, there is also a nostalgic element in the
‘Playground’ design. Adnan has spoken in her literary works about the importance of childlike
imagination in her artistic practice. Her lonely childhood, she has stated, made her more aware of her
environment, more attentive to nature and its effects.

The ‘Playground’ designs express a poetic quality that complements Adnan’s philosophical rigour. Like
her abstract canvases, it offers viewers a personal way of perceiving reality that is grounded in the
artist’s own truth. This image is not only about innocence and childhood, but also about the outside
world and its metaphysical interpretation.

In line with her overarching aesthetic, ‘Playground’ conveys Adnan’s vital energy through her trademark
bold, abstract strokes of paint. Decisive and engaging, this design seems to embody the artist’s
statement that ‘colour is the sign of the existence of life’.