Whanui -Imagine the Land

The idea Whanui project for Auckland Arts Festival 2018 was a collaborative project involving West Auckland Lynnfield College and Age Concern rest homes elderly people. The project consisted of running a  series of interactive workshops from the rest homes involving students and elderly. The aim was to develop an installation setting in motion open‐ended processes through the use of local clays, giving the participants an opportunity to have a direct tactile, sensory and conceptual response to notions ofnature, impermanence and interconnectedness. The project draws upon rich natural earthen materials mainly clays making a strong and direct reference to the historic clay beds of New Lynn area. Students connected with elderly through story telling, manly through the hands on creative component where each participant will create a clay bowl from locally sourced clay from the Waitakere Ranges. The final installation consisted of a participatory instalment of the clay vessels on a “blanket” of clays from the historical clay beds of New Lynn area. The project was build on methodology of community engagement and connection to place. Through the exploration of local stories, and collective ontologies of the earth that we walk upon, that nourishes and supports our daily lives addressing critical relationships within the context of the local and global environment fostering compassionate relationships between the participants and the environment. The project allowed me to further develop new forms of creative inclusion and process driven practice, locating new values and meaning through drawing on inter‐related horizons involving all age groups with special attention to marginalised groups such as elderly people.The project engaged participants over a series of workshops, where students and elderly will be interacted through the duration of 5 weeks, generating visual documentation along side hundreds of clay vessels,that were assembled as an installation and final outcome for public presentation and celebration of the work.