Over the last couple of weeks I have been facilitating three ephemeral art workshops along the Waikawa Stream in Horowhenua, in the lower North Island of New Zealand/Aotearoa.

The workshops were part of  the Waikawa Stream Community Catchment Project, held at two different spots along the river. Aim of the workshops was to engange the community with the river by creating work that is ephemeral (only there for a short time until they disappear through the power of natural elements such as wind and water).

The first workshop kicked off with creating mandalas on the lawn and around trees, using anything found at the campsite area such as leaves, sticks, seeds and fruits.

In the second workshop I gave some basic instructions on raft making using korari (the stalk of the harakeke plant) and driftwood, bound together with strips of harakeke. Rangiora leaves were creatively used to make sails. An armada of 7 or 8 rafts were then sent out to the ocean with a little bit of help from long sticks and arms.

In the last workshop kids and adults had fun to build a site specific installation from river rocks painted in all shades of blues and greens (natural not toxic paint) the rain and water will wash away over time.