2022 Tūmanako Impressions
From left to right:
Paul Yong, Kenric Ma, Ian Gordan, Ethan Liu, Abdul-Qudus Amidu, Sunghyun Yoo, x, Briley Thompson, Daniel Rogers, Junhu Song, Soh Chin Patten
I'm going to be honest, working to host Tūmanako wasn't something I expected myself to do; I'm glad I did it. I learnt a lot from this impact project – from working and communicating as a team, talking and working together with important people who want to make a change in the world. This made me slightly change my perspective on life and it felt great actually helping toward making a greater society for people to live in. I think Tūmanako is a great project as you learn great skills throughout your journey, which helps you later in life.
Abdul-Qudus Amidu Yr 11
As a student, it is my honour to have the opportunity to participate in this event. In my impression, Tūmanako's purpose has always been to promote peace through the ideas of young people and their paintings. In this event, I felt everyone's enthusiasm for our peace exhibition. Also, I realised and learned through this peace exhibition that peace is much more important than we usually think.
Ethan Liu Yr11
I feel very honoured to design the poster and T-shirt for Tūmanako 2021 in support of Soka Gakkai International of NZ (SGINZ) and peace. I am also very grateful to SIGNZ for giving me this wonderful opportunity to show my support for peace. I hope all the best for the Tūmanako 2022, and make this world a more peaceful place.
Tony Zhang Yr13
In this unfortunate time, it was a pleasure to meet and work with many other people. Tūmanako inspired me as it previously inspired many others. It was an amazing opportunity and experience that I would not normally be a part of.
Junhu Song Yr13
This year's 2022 Tūmanako was a real challenge with all the disruptions and setbacks due to covid-19. However, I was pleased with how it turned out! Although there might not have been as much audience as in previous years, we were able to collect the most artwork we've ever gotten before, which I am very proud of. Also, with how fun and challenging preparing my speech for Tumanako was, Tumanako 2022 will be an unforgettable experience for me.
Sunghyun Yoo Yr13
On Saturday 22nd January in AUT’s bright and airy WG building a small but perfectly formed crew gathered together with joy, energy and hope. The event celebrated the young artists and peace activists who contributed to the annual peace art exhibition in 2021, with the young people of the organising team, mentors and stakeholders alike all speaking with passion and compassion. The art itself was beautifully presented in the space, colourful and moving works from near and far, speaking to the desire of the next generation for a world free from violence and conflict. What a privilege to attend the opening of Tūmanako 2021 - we got there finally in 2022!
Rachael Ouwejan (Teacher lead of ASHS Impact Projects)
The opening ceremony of Tūmanako at AUT City Campus on Saturday 22 January 2022
All students involved did their very best and they worked closely with each other, and supported each other even though they were faced with so many uncertainties and challenges in life.
They also used each other's strengths and acknowledged each other's weaknesses culminating in a successful opening ceremony of the Tumanako Exhibition at the most beautiful AUT campus. Our stakeholders, Professor Andrew Codling of AUT, and Kenric Ma - the General Director of Soka Gakkai International of New Zealand, highly commended and applauded our ASHS students in making this Peace event a great success! For the past 5 years, Tumanako has been a response to the Annual Peace Proposal to the United Nations from Dr Daisaku Ikeda of SGI. Students exhibited 353 artworks with messages on Peace from 112 Auckland schools yesterday at AUT's Sir Paul Reeves Building.
Soh Chin Patten
“Peace is not simply the absence of war; it is a state in which people come together in mutual trust and live with joy, energy, and hope. This is the polar opposite of war―where people live plagued by hatred and the fear of death.” - Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai International