Miniature Hikes: Treasures of Backcountry Come to Wellington

Miniature Hikes

Kemi Niko & Co.

October 2014

Treasures of the Backcountry Come to Wellington

This summer, artists Kemi & Niko, are bringing everything you love about the backcountry to Wellington. Their public art project, Miniature Hikes, is a series of seven miniature huts located across Wellington's diverse backyard. Hidden in the bush, at the beach and on windy summits, these colourful huts celebrate the honesty and comfort of the backcountry.

Keen tramper’s themselves; Kemi & Niko have been inspired by the uncomplicated satisfaction of arriving at a hut after tramping all day. Visiting their huts you can experience all this in a half hour, compact adventure simply study the map, set off and follow the track markers. Glimpsing colour against the horizon the hut appears before you, its rough charm and miniature scale transforming the familiar outdoors into enchanted wilderness. Take a closer look and the hut begins to reveal its story; the hand crafted details and salvaged materials speak of history, while the logbook faithfully records who visited and the legacy they left behind.

Kemi Whitwell & Niko Leyden, Mt. Cook locals since 2008, say the project began last summer as they started collecting found materials and experimenting with outdoor interventions. Kemi says, “the recycling bin provided an endless resource, and Rolleston Heights, Mt. Cook seemed the perfect space to try some ideas out.”

Picnic, the most popular experiment, was a home-made bench Kemi & Niko had installed on the summit of Prince of Wales Park (a.k.a Rolleston Heights). The bench contained a blanket and logbook and was used by many locals, tourists and City to Sea walkers. “The amount of use Picnic got,” Niko says, “surprised us. We had to keep replacing the logbooks because they were filling up with entries.”

Encouraged, Kemi & Niko applied for Wellington City Council funding so they could share their public artworks with other suburbs in Wellington.

Miniature Hikes is the result of Wellington City Council’s Public Art fund and has been supported by local residents, community groups and businesses. “We are so fortunate to live in a city that values art so much, says Niko, “many Wellingtonians have been contributing to the project, whether they realised it or not, through our Public Art Survey logbooks.”

These small blue books, housed in tin can booths, are located on popular walking tracks at five of the locations. Kemi says, “the logbooks have been hugely successful. The simplicity of putting pen to paper and being able to read what others have to say, is irresistible.”

A cross section of entries from seven full logbooks, have been compiled into a zine, because Niko says they are just too good, not to share. The Logbook zine will be released at Wellington Zinefest on Saturday, 22 November.

The seventh sculpture, DoC Hut, will be built by Kemi & Niko on Matiu Somes Island, using materials gathered by the Island rangers. Visitors to the Island will be able to see this transformation take place and meet the artists from 9 –11 November. All the huts are open to visit, anytime, until the end of March. Visit Keminiko.com/Miniature-Hikes for their exact locations.

From December, photographs of all the huts and an illustrated map of miniature Welling Town will be exhibited in the Courtenay Place Light boxes. The exhibition will end with the publication of stories, interactions and photos of the project, in March. Discover the huts, share your photos and experiences with Kemi & Niko on facebook.com/keminiko and you could win a signed copy of the Miniature Hikes book.

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