NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Kapiti News

Successful Boosted campaign enables dwellbeing art sculptures

Rosalie Willis
By Rosalie Willis
Multimedia journalist·Kapiti News·
16 Dec, 2021 09:38 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Kemi installing the retoreto (azolla) dwellbeing at Nga Manu Nature Reserve in Waikanae. Photo / Rosalie Willis

Kemi installing the retoreto (azolla) dwellbeing at Nga Manu Nature Reserve in Waikanae. Photo / Rosalie Willis

After a successful crowdfunding campaign, months of research, off-site creation, and a week of installation, Ngā Manu Nature Reserve's newest art installation is an interactive work of art featuring eight dwellbeings.

Installed by nomadic artists Kemi and Niko, the project has been funded through a community boosted campaign.

"The concept is all about finding ways to engage visitors, especially kids, in learning about the different ecosystems in the reserve and bringing that sense of wonder and adventure into the reserve," Niko said.

"Reserve manager Matu Booth got in touch to see if we could come up with a concept with sculptures around the reserve."

"He came up with the name dwellbeings and the concept is based around taking eight species personified into a dwelling," Kemi said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Niko and Kemi installing one of eight dwellbeings. Photo / Rosalie Willis
Niko and Kemi installing one of eight dwellbeings. Photo / Rosalie Willis

Famous for their work creating huts, notably, their Urban Hut Club project which featured in the New Zealand Festival of the Arts early last year, Kemi and Niko have continued connecting the public to their environment through huts in a number of projects since.

The dwellbeings invite participants to consider the implications of home and habitat from the perspective of the native animals and plants iconic to Ngā Manu Nature Reserve.

"We love working with huts because it's the bare basics of what we need for shelter," Niko said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We chose eight different species, researched what their habitat needs are, and thought about if we were this creature and we were making a human home, what would it look like - a roof, sometimes walls, a chimney, you can see those motifs throughout the works.

"Some of them, like the canopy ones, are birds taking the place of people and some of them are like the hut itself is taking the place of the animal.

"It's talking about the habitat needs of each species."

The eight species are retotreto (floating fern), tētē (grey teal duck), ruru (morepork), waikaka (mud fish), pua o te reinga (dactylanthus), pikirangi (mistletoe), kahakaha (nest epiphytes) and Kahikatea.

Discover more

New Zealand

Good sort helps stranded motorists cross flooded road

10 Dec 02:14 AM
Lifestyle

Skincare like your grandma had, but more luxurious

09 Dec 01:00 AM
New Zealand

Residents urge council to put in safe crossing

21 Nov 11:44 PM
Travel

Must-visit Kāpiti eateries this summer

14 Nov 06:31 PM

Kemi and Niko's research was extensive, researching the species not just from the ecological perspective, but the te ao Māori view as well.

"We had lots of chats with Matu and Rhys Mills here and did a lot of research online and in books."

Coming up with the concepts took around four months, with the dwellbeings being created over the last six weeks.

"At the end it got quite intense.

"How we attach them to the space has also been a challenge, especially figuring out how to attach them to trees without damaging them or stunting their growth.

"Some are attached to the ground and some are in the water."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The goal of the dwellbeings experience is for each participant to react with surprise and delight upon discovering the dwelling and its associated dwellbeing.

Each artwork will work as a springboard to an understanding of what having a home/habitat means to different life forms.

"Some of these species are quite rare to Ngā Manu.

"We hope young people can learn something new about these species.

"We hope they can think about what they need to live, and relate that to what these species need in their habitats.

"That's the importance of why we need places like Ngā Manu."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The project will serve to deepen the appreciation of how art can provoke an understanding of the natural world and ultimately encourage the principle of kaitiakitanga for which Ngā Manu stands.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Kapiti News

Kapiti News

Mumpreneur revolutionises property management

15 Dec 11:30 PM
Kapiti News

Kāpiti news in brief: Award-winning nature photo features rare bird nesting

12 Dec 10:48 PM
Kapiti News

Beloved Paraparaumu College teachers bid farewell after long service

11 Dec 10:15 PM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Kapiti News

Mumpreneur revolutionises property management

Mumpreneur revolutionises property management

15 Dec 11:30 PM

How Chelsea Gill created a family-friendly business.

Kāpiti news in brief: Award-winning nature photo features rare bird nesting

Kāpiti news in brief: Award-winning nature photo features rare bird nesting

12 Dec 10:48 PM
Beloved Paraparaumu College teachers bid farewell after long service

Beloved Paraparaumu College teachers bid farewell after long service

11 Dec 10:15 PM
FreedomLife Te Nikau celebrates 25 years of transforming lives

FreedomLife Te Nikau celebrates 25 years of transforming lives

10 Dec 10:47 PM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotion and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP