Anei Au was a collaborative student project – an interactive exhibition produced between a programming class and an art history class at SUNY Canton in upstate New York, 2016. The collaboration started with a lecture by visiting New Zealand artist and museum professional Vicki Lenihan about Contemporary New Zealand Maori Art which drew upon the history of art and ancestry in the work of her extended family. Students were particularly drawn to the art of poupou, carved images of ancestors on wooden posts traditionally found in wharenui or meeting houses.
Taking the poupou as a source of inspiration, students drew upon their own ancestors and their unique cultural identities as the exhibition subject, and developed interactive elements using Augmented Reality software available through the Library and Learning Commons.
Through working together on a shared brief each student discovered connections to the past, adopted their own tools and literacies to position themselves and shared their positions with others. In the face of fleeting connections through their common digital experience: browsing, messaging, posting and searching, this collaborative project required deeper human connection both as a research and design process as well as through the negotiated development of an outcome.
Produced collaboratively with Kathleen Mahoney, graphic and interaction designer with 20 years experience in industry and professor at SUNY Canton. I was working at SUNY Canton as a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. We thanks Vicki Lenihan for her insight into the importance of Ancestors across cultures, and hep with the students concept development stage.