Space A Barcelona

This photograph foregrounds hands engaged in a game of Crazy 8s, a British card game whose presence within this context speaks to the enduring legacies of colonial residues.

By focusing exclusively on hands and cards, the image abstracts individual identity in favour of collective action.

The absence of faces displaces the narrative from singular biography to shared experience, emphasising the ways in which everyday rituals produce forms of solidarity and belonging.

At the same time, the framing invites consideration of the historical pathways through which such games travelled – from Europe into colonial Africa and beyond – before being recontextualised in contemporary diasporic settings.

Crazy 8s functions not merely as a pastime, but as a symbolic terrain where migration, memory, and colonial legacies converge. The photograph highlights how leisure activities, often overlooked in academic discourse, play a critical role in sustaining social worlds,
negotiating cultural identity, and creating a sense of stability amid displacement.