Re:Activism is a location-based urban game that maps the history of activism onto the streets where it happened, as players reenact and re-create the actions that once took place there. Structured as a non-linear race, teams move between historic sites in any order they choose, completing challenges with varying degrees of difficulty and risk.

The technology behind Re:Activism is pedestrian (literally!): a mobile phone with a camera and the ability to text message, poster board, markers, and pamphlets. There’s no special software or GPS needed to play the game. Instead, it uses provisional tools commonly available around the world.

So far, Re:Activism has been played in New York City (2008-2012), Beijing (2008), Minneapolis/St. Paul (2009) and Philadelphia, PA (2011).

reactivism philly 640×480 from PETLab on Vimeo.

• Civic Engagement
• Curriculum
• Digital

Funders

• Macarthur Foundation Digital Media Learning Initiative

Partners

• Institute for Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (Re:Activism Philly)

Participants

• University of Pennsylvania (Re:Activism Philly)
• Kelly Writer’s House (Re:Activism Philly)
• Institute for Contemporary Art Philadelphia (Re:Activism Philly)
• Nikki Schultz & 2 anonymous activists, (Re:Activism Twin Cities)
• Leanne Wagner
• Charles Earl Love Yust
• Jacob Doherty
• Michael Edwards
• Ana Maria Ulloa Garzon
• Chris Hennelly
• Colleen Macklin
• Rabia Malik
• Eric Nunez
• Julienne Obadia
• Michael Thibodeau
• Subalekha Udayasankar
• Parsons The New School for Design, School of Art Media and Technology, MFA Design & Technology
• The New School for Social Research, Anthropology