Everyone has an opinion about how you should live: “You should build a career”, “You should eat healthy”, “You should always be cheerful and happy”. This social “Perfect Picture” can cause a lot of stress if you do not meet it. Het Perfecte Plaatje and Saxion University of Applied Sciences make these themes discussable.

At the Zwarte Cross, research was conducted into whether creative working methods can help to facilitate conversations about difficult subjects. The working methods that were tested included a transparent plexiglass on which participants could stick labels to project their ‘prejudices’ onto others. In addition, creative activities were used, such as a Jenga game with dilemmas, which stimulated participants to broach sensitive subjects without having to make direct eye contact.

The results are promising. Participants appeared to be willing to talk about difficult subjects, especially when they did not have to look at each other. The plexiglass construction was particularly effective in this respect; the Jenga game worked very well in groups. The taboo that stood out was loneliness.

The next step is to develop a specific game or work form that helps to make taboos more discussable.