Coastal Arts Trail launches with the creation of a gallery camper

Curator Aimée Ralfini is leading the creative development of the gallery camper. Photo/ Supplied

A collaboration between the Taranaki, Manawatū and Whanganui regions has led to a new arts trail, and a world-first gallery camper.

The Coastal Arts Trail is an easy, self-driving, art-lovers tour across the lower West Coast of the North Island. It features over 50 stops, taking visitors through a mix of public art, street art, galleries and museums, as well as off-the-beaten-track studios and creative rural communities.

The new trail launched with the creation of a world-first gallery camper.

The camper is an art-immersive campervan, purpose built and designed for the trail, and it will be available for public booking once it has been named.

Venture Taranaki chief executive says Justine Gilliland says the team is excited to see the Gallery-Camper come to life.

"It shines a light on the richness of the Taranaki creative sector, and, across the regions, gives visitors the opportunity to truly do something new".

Curator Aimée Ralfini has been appointed to lead the creative development of the gallery camper.

On the maiden journey along the Coastal Arts Trail, Aimée will collect pieces that highlight the incredible work New Zealand artists have to offer in these regions, for installation in the campervan.

The Coastal Arts trail is an easy, self-driving, art-lovers tour. Photo/ Supplied

"Art has the ability to change the way we experience the world around us. A campervan designed specifically for a regional art trail presents a unique opportunity to view the world through a creative lens."

Bringing art outside the traditional :white cube" space, the Gallery-Camper is a good fit for Aimée, who's passionate about strengthening the role art plays beyond the gallery.

This passion led her to pave the way for New Zealand artists in mainstream and social media. Her visual arts activation platform, Art Ache, similarly disrupts conventional ways of engaging with art, using events, digital billboard campaigns, podcasts, and other tools to, as she puts it, "strengthen New Zealand's creative muscle".

Building the first Gallery-Camper, then, might not be too far out of character.

"It breaks all the rules, about where we think art should be, and how we interact with art. And that's a good thing."