The launch of <note>Art Loves You</note> proved to be popular with local art lovers. Photo / George Novak
The launch of <note>Art Loves You</note> proved to be popular with local art lovers. Photo / George Novak
The traditional way of viewing art will be taken to the next level for Tauranga art lovers when a local gallery launches a range of interactive experiences for all the senses.
Tauranga Art Gallery was preparing to launch to the public Art Loves You which relied on human interactionand engagement with each exhibition.
The six-month programme, which was set to launch on February 24, would showcase immersive digital and interactive experiences across three exhibitions and 14 individual projects.
A range of experiences would be on offer including sensory chambers, healing pools, sound, light, touch and scent experiences, a weaving forest with yarn, video games, art you can tweet and art you can take home and Instagram.
Tauranga Art Gallery director Karl Chitham said the entire gallery would be dedicated to art that people could "touch, feel, Instagram, play, listen to, smell and even take home".
"This will be a fun day out for all the family and an opportunity to experience work by local and national artists as well as a number of international projects from China, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and the United States," he said.
Gallery marketing and media co-ordinator Martine Rolls-Pierhagen said the programme would bring a range of "exciting" work to Tauranga from contemporary artists, software developers, designers, scientists and environmental artists.
"This is the first time interactive art will take over the gallery. Art needs people to engage with it," she said.
Art That Needs You kicks off the three-part programme this week. It will include works by Tiffany Singh, Shanghai-based design collective Super Nature, local artists Scott Brown and Kereama Taepa.
The second part of Art Loves You titled Light Touch will begin in April.
This exhibition would showcase Hueue by Chin-En Soo, Submergence by UK-based Squidsoup and US-based Brian Knep's installation Healing Pools.
A few weeks later, Swedish-born New Zealand artist Jeanette Shäring launches her installation called Whose Water Are You where she would be inviting the local community to participate by collecting water samples that would then be used in the installation.
Shäring would combine science and art while working with various organisations to look at water quality and mapping to help in protecting our local environment.
Art Loves You can be experienced at Tauranga Art Gallery from February 24 until mid-July.
You'll find the gallery on the corner of Wharf and Willow Streets in central Tauranga. More details on artgallery.org.nz.
Exhibition dates
Art that Needs You: 24 Feb – 3 June Light Touch: 31 March – 17 June Whose Water Are You: 14 April – 15 July
