Looking for something fun to take the kids to in Wellington?
Well, we discovered a really neat exhibition at the City Gallery this morning.

Friday is our library day and today we headed in to Central, where we picked up an assortment of items that will keep us going for months.  Right next to Central is the old library building, which houses the City Gallery.  A really big, and bright poster for an exhibition caught my eye as we headed back to the car.  I asked the Oh Waily kids if they’d like to go in and see what it was about and I received my usual mixed response.  One child said ‘yes’ while the other said ‘no’.  Do all kids do this?  Is there an automatic button that means one is for something, while the other is against it?  I do sometimes wonder.  Anyway, I digress.

I persuaded the naysayer to go in and take a look.  If it was “boring” we could always come right back out.  This seemed to mollify him enough to actually get in the building.

Once we handed over our bags for storage, we headed in to the exhibition by Seung Yul Oh and immediately the naysayer was hooked.  Most, but not all, of the exhibit is a tactile one.  Yes, hands on, interactive.  Perfect for kids, and big kids too.  On one side you get a giant balloon maze and weebly-wobbly birds and on the other random noodle sculptures with a hidden treasure beyond – a giant bean-bag-like object upon which three people may climb together.  So, shoes and socks off.  Jackets full of random items, off.  Climbing child #1 scrambles up with no bother at all, rather surprising the young woman who keeps orderliness to the activity.  Smaller, not quite so climbing child #2 scrambles up too once I get a bit of a dent in the bag for him to get traction.  And then even I manage to scramble up.  So the three of us sit and then lie cuddling in the middle of this giant beanbag looking at video art on the walls.

Do they love it?  Oh yes.  They LOVE it.  We are apparently going to go back, dragging Mr Oh Waily with us.  But I think we will wait until the school holidays are over and we can go quietly of a morning when there are less likely to be queues to try it out.

The exhibition is supposed to be on for a couple of months, so we should have plenty of opportunity to go again.  I highly recommend that you do too.  It’s not big and won’t take you long, so it’s more like a nice stop amongst other stops in the city.  I hope you enjoy it as much as the Oh Waily kids did.

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A Weebly Bird and the Oh Waily kids

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The Giant Yellow Maze & Master Oh

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The Giant Yellow Maze and Miss Oh

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