A FIELD OF SUNFLOWERS

A FIELD OF SUNFLOWERS is a game for 2 - 4 players in which you play characters who have lost their entire community as a result of tragic circumstances. Together, you will try to plant a field of sunflowers in memory of those you have loved and lost. Together you will tell the stories of your community and lay the foundations for a hopeful future. 

Like the petals of the sunflower when it feels the touch of the sun's warmth on its face, your character's story and the stories of those they loved and lost will unfold, golden thread by golden thread, until they shine, mirroring that sun, reflecting back its warmth and life, a memorial better than any statue erected in cold, quiet stone - its joyful shout visible for miles around – a vibrant field of sunflowers.

All you need to play is a deck of ordinary playing cards and a passion for telling heart touching stories in a hope filled setting.

This game is inspired by the poem E Kamesgi Luludschi (The Sunflower) by Romani artist, poet and Holocaust survivor Ceija Stojka. It is a memorial to the Romani Genocide which took place during WW2.

Although this is an ultimately hopeful game of remembering lost lives in a celebratory and hopeful way, there are themes which are likely to come up which might be deeply upsetting for some people.

These themes include, but are not limited to: death, genocide, racism, ableism, homophobia, natural disasters, war, murder, torture and harm to innocent people.

The game is designed to tell powerful, emotive, hope filled stories which celebrate lives lived and focus on joyfully and tenaciously building a brighter future through hard work and collaboration. It is not the intention to dwell morbidly on the background themes against which it is set.

You should decide as a group before you play what disaster has robbed your characters of their community - it need not be genocide, it could be a natural disaster, war, apocalypse... the choice is yours. Please have a solid session zero to discuss things you are not comfortable including in the game. For example, you may agree that war has robbed you all of your community, but you don't want the atrocities of war to be mentioned while you are playing.  

Please also use an accessible safety tool when gaming, such as The Deck of Player Safety, The X Card, or The Traffic Light System so that play can be quickly stopped if anyone feels triggered or uncomfortable in any way. 

Remember that the aim of the game is to celebrate lives that have been lost - telling stories that warm the heart - and to work together to build a hopeful future. The aim should not be to dwell morbidly on atrocities, nor should it enhance fear and distress or give voice and power to harmful , violent, and oppressive  ideologies.

During the Romani Genocide, an estimated 

220,000 - 500,000 Roma and Sinti were murdered by Nazis, including 2,897 (mostly women, children, elderly and Disabled) who were murdered in Auschwitz in one night on the 2nd August 1944.

This game is a memorial, not only to them but to the countless others who suffered forced sterilization, abuse and torture in concentration camps throughout Nazi Germany during the second world war. It's important to remember that their suffering did not end when the allied forces took over - that Roma and Sinti were not granted freedom and human rights at this time, and that our struggle for that freedom and those rights goes on throughout Europe today.

Sunflowers - kamesgi luluschi -  are the chosen symbol of the Romani People. In her famous poem, Romani Holocaust survivor Ceija Stojka says "The rose makes us weep, but the sunflower makes us laugh" - we must remember lives with joy as well as with sorrow, celebrating strength, resilience, tenacity, bravery even in the face of death. In sorrow we fall to our knees but in joy we rise up like the sunflower, because we have HOPE that we will reach the blue sky - and freedom.

We have made great progress in some countries, but the fight goes on.

The phrase "Dikh He Na Bister" means "Look And Do Not Forget" - we must look at what happened to Roma and Sinti, to Jewish people, to Gay and Disabled people too. We must not forget because we must rise - OPRE! - whenever we see fascism and ideologies that preach genocide trying to gain power again - no matter where in the world it is happening, we must fight it.

To bring your game to a satisfying conclusion, each player should be given a final turn at the end in which to reflect on what they have achieved, on the lives that have been remembered and the bright future that stretches out before you all.

Not all grand plans see full fruition - and that's ok - even if you did not plant the full field, or any of the field, you have still shared stories, remembered lives, come together in hope and worked hard - you have still achieved what you set out to achieve, the results just look a little different from how you imagined them, that's all.

Make sure that your game always ends on a joyful, hope filled note and that, as a group, you take a moment after the game to reflect and debrief/ decompress  before returning to your everyday lives. This last step is especially important in emotive games live this one.

And lastly I ask that you please take a moment to read more about our continued persecution and struggles in Europe as a marginalised community and our reclamation of the sunflower as our symbol here: 

https://2august.eu/we-are-reclaiming-the-sunflower/

You can find out more about Ceija's art, poetry and activism here:

https://memorise.sdu.dk/blog-post-ceija-stojka/