I was honoured to be engaged by New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, to create a bespoke print for their innovation hub, Mahuki. This print has a dual purpose; It is used primarily as a call for applications via public poster display and as smaller postcards for sale in the museum gift shop and also given as personal ‘thank yous’ from Mahuki team members.
With this dual purpose in mind, the print needed to be visually compelling to reach the masses on the streets from a distance and also be beautiful and ‘artisan’ enough to be fit for gifting as a precious keepsake.
Virtual Reality (VR) was chosen by the Te Papa team as the technology to champion and pique the interest of the public for this print. Much of the conversation surrounding VR and museums focuses on teleporting visitors into recreated worlds — it’s one of VR’s unique capabilities. To help demonstrate this technology the concept of experiencing a past era provides a powerful story. Imagine having the opportunity to take a peek into a time when the majestic Moa roamed our lands....
When Moa bones were first announced by European scientists in 1840, it sparked international interest. Once the largest bird to have existed, Moa briefly became a national symbol, and New Zealand was called ‘the land of the Moa’. VR has the ability to transport us to this time and sow magic in our imagination. Imagine seeing the Moa come to life and perhaps even touch their feathers, by climbing inside an awe-inspiring world of 500 years ago, pre-extinction.
“Surrounding the Moa, the landscape is invaded by tropical flowers and ferns – a play on Mahuki meaning a ‘wellspring’ of inspiration. The landscape is a mix of handpainted elements, vector illustration, photography and Te Papa collection imagery.”
Visitors to Mahuki pose in front of the newly hung Moa.
Imagery from Te Papa’s own collection are ‘remixed’ to create a compelling Moa image in a virtual reality environment. The Moa, here, is a fusion of a vintage skeleton photograph and a watercolour on paper by Paul Martinson. The merging of these two artefacts signals the concept of the Moa’s extinction, through it’s flesh and feathers fading into a skeleton form, or, more positively, the Moa coming back to life from extinction.
The Moa steps through this otherworldly landscape with it’s skeleton turning to flesh – this sense of magic is layered upon with a ‘stardust’ effect around the Moa’s feet and a full-body ‘glow’ around it’s edges. Aoraki / Mount Cook proudly sits on the horizon. Aoraki has been incorporated because of it’s status as the highest mountain in New Zealand (playing subtly to the Moa’s own reputation of being the largest bird). A pair of Huia sit in a tree to the left – included as a gentle nod to nature’s precious balance and how, if we’re not careful, some life can become extinct, like the Moa’s. Sun rays pour out of the pink sky above the Moa, and shimmers of celestial stars peep out behind clouds.
Since the initial creation and print run of this image, the Mahuki team has gone a step further and has printed the Moa at almost life-size and placed it pride of place within the hub space. The clever team then created an accompanying mobile app, where visitors to the hub can experience an augmented reality where the Moa 'comes to life' through their device before their eyes. Pretty cool, eh?