Giftitude; Public Art Hunt

Giftitude; Public Art Hunt
Wellington, Dunedin and Nelson
13 Feb to 13 March

Finders Keepers in Free Art Hunt

Over the next month urban explorers will be given the chance to take home a free artwork by artists Kemi & Niko, if they can find it first! With the assistance of volunteers in Dunedin, Nelson and Wellington the artists are giving away 15 artworks by hiding them in urban green spaces and using social media to give out clues.

The opportunity to attend an artist residency camp in Australia prompted artist duo, Kemi & Niko, to come up with a unique way of giving back before asking the public for crowdfunding support. As part of the art camp Kemi & Niko will run a workshop sharing their knowledge of how to turn the humble tin can into an art making material, something you see often in their work.

““All materials salvaged” has been our ethos for a while. People always respond really well to our work as the materials add an extra layer of character,” Kemi explains. Using these reclaimed materials, including paint tin lids, salvaged rimu beams, recycled house paint and flattened tin cans, means their ‘gifts’ can all handle being left out in the wild.

Caption: One of the free artworks by Kemi & Niko; salvaged rimu and tin can miniature hut

Art hunters will be notified on the day an artwork is ready to be found in their city and whoever finds it first takes the ‘gift’ home. They will find a message and unique hashtag on the artwork that the artists hope they’ll use when posting an image of their success on social media.

Kemi and Niko came to the Wellington publics attention in summer 2014/15 when they installed miniature tramping huts around the city in secluded nature spots. They have since worked with community and non-for-profit groups to encourage new ways of experiencing local natural spaces.

To play Giftitude and have a go at finding one of the artworks attend their Facebook event and get real-time notifications when the artworks are ready to be found. Kemi & Niko are running a Boosted campaign to raise enough money to cover flights and fees for Time_Place_Space: Nomad in April.

ENDS

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/165248160776663/
Website (with more images): www.keminiko.com/giftitude
Boosted video (more info and pics of the Giftitude project): https://youtu.be/t-grOyJNk7A

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