Flux at Wellington Museum is launching on 28 March.
With the space aimed particularly at 18-30 year olds, Flux will be open for the community to share their stories through art, photography, performance, virtual reality, multimedia and more. Decisions about how it operates and what happens in that space are made by a co-op advocating for community voices.
In this post, we talk to Bena Jackson – a Massey Fine Arts student who is currently interning at Flux;
Can you tell us about the concept behind Flux? What are you hoping to achieve?
Flux is a new dynamic, co-operatively run space at Wellington Museum which challenges the museum status quo. It is aimed at 18-30 year olds who can use Flux for exhibitions and public programmes; creating content and experiences; exploring different ideas and perspectives; and building community relationships. We hope to host an incredibly diverse range of exhibitions, performances, workshops, programmes and many other things which haven’t even been thought of yet. Flux is incredibly lucky to have the support of the museum behind us whilst also having a huge amount of flexibility to present things outside of the museum’s constraints. The co-op works together to make decisions about how Flux operates and what happens in the space. Flux is hopefully not one specific thing; we want it to be open ended and flexible as things come and go.
And the name?
We went through quite a long process to find a name. The concept of the space has changed over time, so lots of names got thrown out for various reasons. The name Flux was originally going to belong to the first exhibition of work in the space but it clicked with the way we want the space to operate and we latched onto it! The word flux talks about continuous change and the flow of things or people in and out of a space. It is really perfect for a venue which will be used for quite diverse things and which will be frequently changing and transforming as different groups and people come through with their own ideas. The space and the collective will be in a constant state of flux, so it seems like a pretty good fit.
What’s been involved in getting Flux off the ground?
So many people have put in time into getting what is now Flux, started. I have only been involved since December and already a lot has gone into it, but many people have been working on it much longer! I’ve mostly been working on helping to plan the opening exhibition and some of the first programmes, as well as starting to figure out how organise and bring together all of the different people into some kind of identifiable and useful co-op.
There is so much more that has gone into it from so many people though. From the original concepts which Flux has evolved from, the designing and construction of the space, identifying who the space is actually for and what it is about, and figuring out and negotiating how Flux is going to operate in relation to the museum, the writing of a vision, strategy and kaupapa, thinking about marketing and connecting with all the different people who are going to make flux a success.
And finally, can you tell us about the opening?
Flux will be officially open from 6pm on the 28th of March! We’re launching with an exhibition of young Wellington artists who’ve responded to the concept of flux and transition. On the night we’ve got local bands girl boss and Zero Cool performing, food and drink and hopefully lots of people. It’s really an opportunity for people to come and check out the space in person and to start thinking about how they might want to be a part of it themselves. We’ll talk a little bit about what’s happened so far and what’s going on next, and have some information about getting involved but mostly it should just be a whole lot of fun and hopefully the start of some more very exciting Flux projects!
In the meantime we can be reached at flux@experiencewellington.org.nz or found on Facebook @fluxatWM
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