What is Bling Bling?
In 2019, over the year of my internship with ĀKAU, the same issue of not enough streetlight would be brought up by the community again and again. During this year I was introduced to Sasha Wilson, a local light sculpture installation artist and a trustee of Te Pū O Te Wheke Community Arts Gallery. Sasha has a dream. She wants to create a new aesthetic for Kaikohe – to “bling the town out” with light sculpture.
I saw an opportunity to change perceptions by combining the kōrero of the taitamariki and whānau for better public lighting with Sasha Wilson’s dream to “bling the town out” with light. And so, Bling Bling was created.
Bling Bling is about many things. Establishing a creative space dedicated to the education, research, development, and creation of light art. Encouraging collaboration between taitamariki and the creative arts community in Kaikohe. But at its core is a desire to offer taitamariki a chance to invest their mauri into their town.