WALKING - ONE SENSE AT A TIME

sensory walks
counter-mapping
zine

may – sept 2018
aotearoa, new zealand

artists:
iryna zamuruieva
in collaboration with:
elliot hurst

commissions/collaborations:
auckland city council
splice
depot artspace
aotearoa festival of architecture

media:
a zine about walking, ways of knowing and paying attention, published by compound press, available here.


 

‘walking – one sense at a time’ explores what changes when we try walking more attentively, making full use of our senses. in this series of creative city explorations, we focused on one specific sense per walk: smell, sound, visual, tactile. during each of the walks we noted the respective sensory observations, discussed their meaning and created a unique sensory map. weaving together arts, research and community activating, each walk was ultimately concerned with engaging the participants into broader social issues – what does a liveable city smell like, what is the sound of social justice, what does pollution feel like?

the walking series took part in auckland, aotearoa new zealand from may to september 2018. There were 4 day and 4 night walks, with each pair focused on a specific sense. more than 50 walkers in total explored auckland’s streets as a medium for creative city exploration, linking everyday sensory experiences to broader social and environmental issues.

iryna led the walks and shared various ways to smell/touch/look at/listen to the city, with participants mapping their experiences and facilitated discussions afterward. together with elliot hurst, she created five sensory maps that collated participants’ sensory observations. these were made publicly available at the interactive community hub pā rongorongo in auckland’s city centre.