Making magic from a rich range of material is the art of visitor experience design. Especially at home in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Kiwis live in the rich cultural mix of an immigrant nation, with Māori as the original inhabitants. This environment, plus the Te Tiriti o Waitangi shape the nation and the stories we tell. At Gibson International we often have the privilege of incorporating pūrakau and pakiwaitara – tribal histories and stories – into our designs.
Many of our ‘VE’ installations present Māori knowledge on equal footing with European perspectives of the same subject. ‘Western science’ suggests a culture of written academic study must be ‘true’. Some people don’t notice that mātauranga also uses hypothesis and testing – real-world observations and inter-generational study passed on in different forms. Sometimes they are not that different.
Te Wharekura, on the Auckland waterfront
Whāriki take skill and many hands to weave
Some stakeholders want simple narratives. A single point-of-view is clean, short and punchy. But it’s not always possible, both inside and outside te ao Māori. In the Māori world, the richness of kōrero may include several, sometimes contradictory, versions of the same tale. All of them authentic. And then there is ‘science’ as well. … so it’s easy to just put the versions next to each other, like teams facing off at kick-off.
We think there is a better way. The woven mat is our chosen metaphor here. Whāriki (woven mats) take skill, dedication, and many hands to weave. It is a great metaphor for storytelling, allowing different narratives to intertwine and interweave.
It’s easy to fall back on a ‘Western’ safety net – needing an exact date or a written record. But a richer story is formed – like the whāriki – when many threads are used. Not as strands lying next each other, but as a clever blend. One thought ducking under another, strengthening the whole fabric, to reappear a little further on.
It takes more work, more preparation and a little more imagination.
But as we all know, a great story has twists and turns. It always has.