Exhibition art stations for all ages

Talk about a juggling act! Suzanne Voice spent the final stages of her Graduate Diploma in Design working on a very special project — preparing interactive exhibitions for the exhibition “Ka mua, ka muri: Walking backwards into the future”, which recently opened at Tūhura, Otago Museum. 

Student Story Suzanne Voide 1200X610 NEWS

The exhibition, which runs until May 2023, highlights Otago Polytechnic’s contribution to its community through interactive, creative, and engaging displays that celebrate its culture, people and successes. 

The joint internship with Otago Museum and Otago Polytechnic required Suzanne to work with two clients simultaneously.

She demonstrated her versatility, implementing skills from using complex design software through to getting hands-on with paper and glue. 

My project involved creating three interactive art stations for people of all ages to have fun with.” 

Art stations designed for a museum environment are a unique challenge, as they need to engage children, have educational value and hold up to repeated, enthusiastic use. There was also an emphasis on the sustainability of materials. The challenge meant a lot of problem-solving on the job.

“Nothing sticky or icky!” Suzanne says.

“I learnt that spray-painting is not as easy as it looks, writing instructions is not straightforward, that double-sided tape doesn’t hold papercraft sculptures together, and you need to keep an open dialogue with your clients so you stay on the same page for the outcome.” 

Asked how it felt to have work on such public display, Suzanne responds:

“It’s a little scary. It is always a bit daunting to create something and then put it out to the world. But, as someone once said to me, why are you creating things if you don’t share them?”

Suzanne takes a humble approach to the project’s success, pointing out the many people involved, including her fellow interns.  

“I could not have done it without the help of my supervisor Lucy Richardson, my clients and Ken Wyber at EPICentre.” 

Suzanne says the exhibition project has directly influenced her plans for the future.

“One of the exhibits I worked on involved building papercraft sculptures. They were so much fun that I am planning to create my own patterns based on New Zealand flora and fauna.” 

“My dream would be to work in exhibition design. I love to solve design problems.” 

Ka Mua, Ka Muri: Walking Backwards into the Future

Ka Mua, Ka Muri: Walking Backwards into the Future

Join us as we celebrate our people, history and future in a six-month exhibition at Otago Museu...

Published on 20 Jan 2023