Gabriel Fontana uses sport as more than a metaphor for society. His work focuses on inclusion and reaches different layers of society through education, culture and the sports industry. As such, he designs and develops new forms of pedagogy, activities and games, where sports become the perfect vehicle to question what rules we have agreed upon in the past and whether they now work for or against us. Gabriel’s methods aim to give people a playful way of experiencing the prevailing norms of identity, community and inclusion, exploring what they really mean and how we can bring about change. In doing so, he gives new meaning to our idea of togetherness, while reshaping sports to support societal shifts. 

Gabriel Fontana’s strength is that he uses design effectively to influence how we interact in a time where playing ‘against each other’ is usually the norm. Drawing on a social design framework, he proposes new team sports that deconstruct group dynamics and cultivate empathy. He graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven in 2019 with Multiform, and continued collaborating with the municipality of Rotterdam towards an educational programme for primary and secondary schools that contributes to inclusive physical education. His new work Cheers is set to take place in Los Angeles in 2025 in collaboration with Villa Albertine, exploring how cheerleading is being reclaimed by queer communities as an emancipatory act. Seen as a socio-political dance that shapes our understanding of gender, sexuality, and body norms worldwide through pop culture, Cheers also addresses how social justice movements —such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter— are reshaping American sports culture, thus bringing global impact.

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