This track is designed to be experienced in the ngahere / forest.
Go for a walk in a forest near you, listen to the track and take some time to consider our questions:
How does your forest sound?
How does it make you feel?
What can you hear in your forest?
What are the sounds of a healthy forest? Of an unhealthy forest?
Can you make your own sounds or music in/with your ngahere?
“Close your eyes and let your mind drift off to a ngahere not far away from here. Think about your place in this world and your role as kaitiaki. Let your worries drift away and enjoy the voices of the ngahere.”
Voices of the Ngahere was created by Konini School, Room 20 with Tash van Schaardenburg
Toitū te Ngahere: Art in schools for forest health
This soundscape was created as part of a commission for the Urban Walking Festival. Students at Kauri Park School in Tāmaki / Auckland worked in collaboration with sound artist Tash van Schaardenburg, learning to take field recordings, then consider how these could be combined to create an experience of the forest.
It is one part of a collaborative research project with researchers from the University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau. The students are supported to examine the implications for their communities and local environments of two plant pathogens: kauri dieback caused by Phytopthora agathidicida, and the fungal disease myrtle rust, Austropucinia psidii.
Combining science, mātauranga Māori and the arts, the students explore ways to contribute to ngahere ora as kaitiaki, finding ways to generate positive social and ecological action in their schools and communities, sharing messages of concern, hope and connection with ngahere ora.
The resulting soundscape captures the children’s exploration of their local forest environment through sound. In response to the threatening pathogens kauri dieback and myrtle rust they asked, how can listening to the forest evoke how we feel about it? What does a healthy forest sound like? We invite you to walk through your local bush and listen.
Presented by the Urban Walking Festival, with support from Eke Panuku, Auckland Transport and the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge programme Ngā Rākau Taketake.
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