Children’s Sensorium

The big anxiety @ RMIT University
2022

In 2022, we were invited to collaborate with a group of curators, artists and mental health researchers on a new interactive exhibition at The Big Anxiety hosted by RMIT University. The outcome was The Children’s Sensorium featuring light, colour, touch, sound, smell and taste to activate children’s curiosity, connect them to local Kulin country, and introduce strategies and techniques that support emotional resilience and wellbeing. 

We created an interactive installation of objects inviting an embodied engagement. An 11 metre drop of fabric, our embodiment tools, guided audio pieces and a Soma Score prompted some exciting playful responses. We were also part of the public program - offering somatic adventures through the Sensorium.

The Sensorium was produced by Grace McQuilten with leading artistic direction from Boonwurrung elder N’arweet Carolyn Briggs and was presented by RMIT’s Contemporary Art & Social Transformation (CAST) Research Group. It was created with leading contemporary artists including Larissa Hjorth (play and games), Hiromi Tango (colour and textile installation), Fiona Hillary (light), Philip Samartzis (sound), Heather Hesterman (planting and cultivation of plants), Anna Schwann (scent installation) with designer Anthony Clarke (Bloxas) and embodiment specialists Tamara Borovica, Angela Clarke and Camilla Maling. Strategies around emotional resilience and wellbeing were developed with the guidance of critical mental health researcher Renata Kokanović and industry collaborator, Live Particle.