A Whales Tales Art Walk

Today we went on a Whales Tales Art Walk, with other members of our Tuesday morning walking group.  On our way to the Museum we saw a whale tail in Newmarket.  We met our guide at the Auckland Museum and commenced the walk inside the Museum looking at a small exhibition called Shelf Life British photographer Mandy Barker, whose hypnotising photographs highlight the sinister reality of society's reliance on plastic and the damage it causes to the natural world. We saw two Pepi Pods inside the museum and another whale tail outside the Museum.  This one was very special as it was decorated by two people who aren’t artists but who have a passion for the ocean and the environment.  Their whale tale shows the plankton that are vital for the planet’s health and provide an essential food source for our ocean’s wildlife.  The plankton appear on the tail as they would in the ocean - from top to bottom.

After the Museum visit, we walked to look at a whale tail that I blipped earlier https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2934031545884741587. It was painted by a Chinese artist, Wei Lun Ha, who was there to explain his design.  We then moved to the nearby Jubilee building where Wei gave a painting demonstration while we enjoyed morning tea. After morning tea we walked along Parnell Road to the Cathedral, where we stopped to look at another whale tail I blipped earlier https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2945625030907661052, then further along to a whale tail I haven’t blipped until today.  The walk ended with the corrugated iron tail I blipped earlier https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2941270639866019896.

It was a most interesting and informative walk and an enjoyable morning out.  We treated ourselves to dinner at an Italian restaurant down in St Heliers to end the day.

The main blip shows the front and back of the “plankton” tail, called “From the Tiny to the Mighty” by Bhakti Patel and Annika Andresen. The first extra shows “They are Us” by Laurelee Walmsley on the top, and “Sirius Dreaming” by Sofia Minson on the bottom. The second extra shows the two Pepi Pods, which were painted by school children from various Auckland schools.

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