Blast from the Past

An oral histories project connecting people through material objects related to sports, games and play

Overview
The Blast from the Past oral histories project forms part of the RAI’s Discover Anthropology programme. and is organised alongside the RAI’s ESRC Festival of Social Science 2011 event, Sport Cultures, capturing sport in a globalised world taking place at the University of Sussex on November 5th 2011.

The Blast from the Past project aims to:
• promote public engagement with the RAI’s Education Outreach Programme
• provide a platform for people to share stories in relation to sport, games and play and become actively involved in anthropology
• initiate activities and events in relation to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics
• explore the connections between identity, sport and material culture through the use of digital media

What are oral histories?
Oral histories are living memories, experiences and life events that are gathered through interviews and conversations which are often subsequently shared with relatives, community members or outsiders. Anthropologists use oral histories to try and understand how indviduals make sense of their world. They also use oral histories to find out about cultural traditions that have been past down orally through generations. Because we are unable to provide interviewers for this project we have compiled a list of questions which may assist you in framing your narratives:
 
- What is the story of the object and your relationship to the object
- Why is this object meaningful to you or your family
- How does the object connect to sport, play, or games

What is the Anthropology of Sport?

Anthropology of Sport is the cross-cultural and biological understanding of sport in …history and the contemporary world (Blanchard 1995). It analyses the socioeconomic, political and cultural dimensions of sport and how sport influences the lives of individuals and communities around the world.

Anthropologists have always been interested in sport and games, their research encompassing everything from cock-fighting to cricket. Evarard ImThurn, an anthropologist of the 19th century studying games in South America, noted that some of the simplest and earliest forms of games were those where children imitated their elders.
Im Thurn defined a game as a pleasurable exercise involving any part of the mind or body that led to the development of embodied knowledge (1901).

Play is often defined in very similar terms as Im Thurn’s definition of games- as taking part in a recreational activity for enjoyment or for a practical purpose. Play is voluntary and is part of a creative process. According to Huizinga (1955) play goes beyond being a purely biological activity. “It is a significant function-that is to say there is some sense to it. In play there is something ‘at play’ which transcends the immediate sense of life and imparts meaning to the action.” For Huizinga play always has a meaning.

Analysing games and play in a contemporary North American context, the Association for the Study of Play (TASP), describes the importance of play in relation to identity and childhood development: “Play is an essential tool for social, cognitive, and physical competence as well as identity development, but research has shown that societal trends have marginalized play…under heightened scrutiny and pressure to respond to the current climate of accountability, economic uncertainty, technologically enhanced learning, changing demographics of students and multiple other factors”.  This project hopefully will help us re-visit our attitude to play and stimulate new forms of creative activity.

Blast from the Past considers games, sports and play to be integrated and mutually cohesive elements. We are interested in any material object associated with individual play, group games or institutionalised sport. In terms of games however, we are excluding non-physical games such as online games, board games any video games.

Material Objects can include:
Signed baseballs, medals, autographs, old posters, old sport equipment, vintage photos, game pieces, sport kits, jerseys, uniforms, old sport venues, pom poms, flags, souvenirs, old prosthetics, mascots, lyrics, slogans, banners, books, magazines, cards. This list is not exhaustive and we encourage you to come up with new ideas. * Please only include material objects related to sports, games and play that are of a physical nature*

The submissions:
We are asking people to dig through their attics, family trunks and wardrobes to find objects (sport kits, souvenirs, photos, medals or magazines) that capture special memories related to sport, games and play. Send us a video of you speaking about your object or write a story and send us a photo!

Who can participate?
Anyone interested in anthropology, history and sport.

How do I submit my story?
You can submit your story either of two ways:
1) Take a photo of the object and write your story down in the application form
2) Tell your story of the object through a short video clip

Guidelines for submissions:

• This project is open to anyone (16 years old and above)

• All applicants must fill in a registration form: Registration form for Photos or Registration form for Videos

 **Participants must complete a separate form for each of their submissions**

• If you are submitting a photo of your object, please try and take a high resolution image and submit either a JPEG, TIFF or BITmap and sized less than 10MB.

• If you are submitting a video, please keep the video of maximum 1 min and 30 seconds in length. The video can be taken by any digital device, including mobile phones and cameras.

• The RAI is not responsible for any late, misrouted, lost or damaged entries.

What will we do with the submissions?

- The Royal Anthropological Institute will publish the photos on our Discover Anthropology website, Flickr and YouTube channel and other RAI satellite websites.
- Early submissions will be exhibited at the RAI’s Sport Cultures event on November 5th as part ESRC Festival of Social Science.

The deadline for submissions is 16th March 2012

Copyright and Data Protection
All images and videos submitted for consideration the sole property of the participant. By submitting to the Blast from the Past project participants agree that the RAI has the right to use and display their work for the RAI’s Education Programme’s online and printed materials or for further use (as the RAI deems appropriate) without requiring additional compensation. The RAI will cite entrants as copyright holders of their work in its own publications, but takes no responsibility for any third party usage of photographs or videos.

Any personal data acquired will be used in connection with the RAI’s Blast from the Past Oral Histories Project to facilitate communication with the entrant and for consideration of future RAI activities, competitions and events. The data will not be passed on to third parties without the prior consent of the entrant.

For further enquiries please contact the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Education Officer Nafisa Fera at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 020 7387 0455 with any further enquiries.

Download our publicity for Blast from the Past !