An Interactive Art Event Encouraging Environmental and Social Sustainability

The Touch Aotearoa New Zealand project’s central kaupapa is to bring sustainability and wellbeing to New Zealand in a way that inspires our communities to take action. Actions can be large or small because every action makes a difference. 

The artistic aim of this project is to share the powerful way art can contribute to individuals, organisations and community’s wellbeing.

The Sustainable Development Goals formulated by the United Nations are aspirational goals for humanity. Starting working on them, I was fortunate to receive a grant from Creative New Zealand to launch my first project, the 'Please Do Touch' installation in Paris and Montenegro. 

More information here about the project background and here about the Paris launch and the invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a solo exhibition to represent New Zealand at the United Nations headquarters in New York. 

The Touch Aotearoa New Zealand art installation embeds interactive elements to encourage audiences to  experience the artworks through their five senses. 

The exhibition is installed in five stations for each sense with an interactive activity for people to participate in as they experience a piece of art. 

Fun activities include participants tasting cupcakes, touching the original artwork, viewing a movie, listening to a sound file and smelling whilst imagining what life would be like under the conditions depicted by the painting, More details on the list of activities here.

Experience garnered from the pilot project run at the Auckland Art Gallery in May 2022 confirmed that this material can provide an opportunity for a number of audiences ranging from corporate organisations through to individuals and their families. Participants also supported the strategic outcome we intend the project to meet . This event was attended by the Auckland City Council Enviroschools team. A range of individuals from different ethnic groups and age groups, along with a small children no older than four years old, with her mother. The production team from Attitude TV, a programme focused on enabling people with disabilities, filmed the event. Their producer plans to feature the installation and explain how different communities can share messages of hope and wellbeing for people and environments and build on each other’s inspiration. 

Following on from the feedback from these pilots, the idea was initiated for this new project: Touch New Aotearoa shares artworks as messages of wellbeing and action toward environmental sustainability. It is an interactive event, designed to be delivered across New Zealand, to educate, inspire and share how together we can all collectively make a difference. I wanted to bring this kaupapa to all of New Zealand to build on Aotearoa’s role in leading sustainability.

The event's interactivity will be a designed immersion for all participants, allowing space for connections to be made, interaction through the five senses  and an inviting space for free-flowing discussions. The event will exhibit 5 of my large works. Participants are encouraged to experience and connect with the artworks behind the project through interactive posters (leading to additional materials via video, sound, taste) and associated workbook (Touch the World - the key event resource included in ticket price for all participants). The workbook supports the event by encouraging the reader to identify achievable actions they can take toward sustainability, asking thought provoking questions, while also providing space for participants to practice mindfulness with colouring pages and blank pages for creative expression.

The installation's experiential resource book

Touch the World is a workbook, created in collaboration with educators and social scientists. The resource aims to educate communities on environmental and social sustainability while empowering them to become confident in themselves and responsible stewards of the earth. This resource uses art and guided reflection to communicate these messages. 

The workbook includes a number of digitised drawings of Yaniv’s paintings for the reader to colour or paint, along with ‘taking action’ pages that prompt the reader to write about what actions they will work to take toward each relevant sustainable development goal.Using  the resource, people draw on a range of creative channels to formulate new ideas based on their personal stories.

Example activities

• Observe the artwork and think about the significance of the images

• Reflect on the artist view and analysis

• Brainstorm on actions that one could take about a sustainable goal

• Create a drawing, glue in image(s) that represent the issue and potential solutions

• Colour-in - as a mindfulness practice 

• Summarise thoughts and choose one action that one could commit to to alleviate the goal topic

These activities can be done individually or in a family/group - either way, with the range of possible activities on offer, one is bound to think about even one small step in the right direction. Using the workbook is a great starting point to reflect, plan and make your first step to contribute to a goal.

When will you start?