DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS

Play!

During Dutch Design Week 2025, Emma District becomes a living laboratory for design, curiosity, and interaction. This year, the Galleries address play within design, as a method for experimentation, reflection, and imagining new connections between people, objects, and the life of a street.

At the heart of the district, DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS brings together the works of designers, researchers and artists in a central exhibition. Visitors will find works that explore design as and instrument of discovery and activator of interaction and social exchange in an exhibition that investigates the material and conceptual boundaries of play. The exhibition asks: is all design engaged in play or where is play in design? How do creative practices engage in play? and how does playfulness produce new ideas and forms? The questions will come alive and prowl Emma District amid works of collectible and critical design that invite engagement and provoke curiosity, surprise, and reflection.

Public Programme!

The theme of play will break free from these confines of a single space, with activations spilling out into the surrounding street, stores, and spaces, creating playful moments and encounters that unfold as visitors move through the district.

A complementary programme of talks, workshops, and live events invites audiences of all ages and interests to engage critically and playfully. Visitors can explore how design is bound up in play, and how this play shapes urban space and social interactions, reflecting on both the playful methods and the objects that make it tangible.

Coming Soon!

Whether you come to pause, participate, or simply wander, DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS at Emma District invites you to consider the importance of play as a space for imagination: where playful ideas meet serious possibilities.

Check back soon for the full participant list and public programme and follow @EmmaDistrict on Instagram for updates.