Interactive art exhibition encourages play

Forget the "no touch" signs at the museum.

A new exhibition in Invercargill wants children and their families to interact and play with many of its art pieces.

He Waka Tuia public programme and history curator Katie Green said after the popularity of He Waka Tuia’s exhibition Play last year, the team decided to bring it back with new additions.

It opened on Saturday with a range of options including colouring, twister, a light and shadow wall, and a Matariki light installation.

"Life shouldn’t be like serious and boring and we should enjoy all the fun things in life," she said.

He Waka Tuia public programme and history curator Katie Green (left) and manager Sarah Brown...
He Waka Tuia public programme and history curator Katie Green (left) and manager Sarah Brown having fun in one of the play displays.
"The point of this exhibition is to show that museums don’t have to be a, ‘don’t touch, just look’ kind of space, but it can be somewhere where you can come in and actually interact with everything."

He Waka Tuia art curator Bridget Duncan said the main idea behind the exhibition was to get families doing something interesting during the holidays.

She had help from their own children to set up the exhibit.

"As we know can be pretty unpredictable with the weather and I’m a mother.

"I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old and I know that Southland needs some places that we can take children for free during the school holidays."

Josie Coote (left) and Hazel Higham (both 4) love the toys-chair which is part of the Play 2.0...
Josie Coote (left) and Hazel Higham (both 4) love the toys-chair which is part of the Play 2.0 exhibit at He Waka Tuia in Invercargill. PHOTOS: COLE YEOMAN
During the exhibition period, there would also be a range of attractions to please all tastes.

It included a disco, Mindful Mondays where people were invited to come along to do some colouring or play some jigsaw puzzles during the lunch break, a Low Sensory hour for children and even a silent disco.

The exhibition runs until July 23.

luisa.girao@odt.co.nz

 

 

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