Photography by Tanya Perova and Reuben Raj.

On Saturday 28 September 2019 during the Open Arts Day Papaya Stories introduced a new project – An Interactive Art Tour that we worked closely together with the team at Corban Estate Arts Centre. Lots of great people got involved to make this tour a reality. It has a true collaborative spirit. We tailored the route, developed the concept, asked around and got historic insights from the West Auckland Historic Society, designed a new audio and entertainment programme that featured the conversations with the resident artists (Pita Turei, Steven Woodward, Dave McCracken, Julie Moselen, Rosanne Raymond, Tony Brown and Pasifika Mamas), did a few test runs. And in the end of the day it was 10000% worth it.

Our 1-hour tour turned out to be a popular gig as it got fully booked a few days prior to the event. We run two tours on a day, while having up to 40 people in each group. We were able to introduce Corban to the new audience members and at the same time re-engage the regular visitors and fans of this arty place.

Thanks to the pre-recorded audio programme and well-timed route and script, the audience was able to get a taste of behind the scenes – got immersed into the life of the diverse arts community; learnt about their whakapapa and connection to Corban; explored their creative studios like never before. As a result we received a very positive feedback and lots of aroha from the community.

“Thank you so much. It has been wonderful to have the commentary and understand more about artists.” –  David

“I gotta admit I didn’t know much about Corban’s Estate at all. It has been just so good to learn something new. Loved it. Thank you.” – Lily

“Absolutely wonderful! Very well done… I was amazed how the timing of the audio co-related to the place we were visiting! Very fun! Thank you.”

“I’ve been to many tours and exhibitions in my life, and this was the best tour – lots of fun and joyful competitions, very warm and friendly atmosphere. Thanks a lot!” – Alena

“I have been to several workshops at Corban Estate Arts Centre and was excited to attend the Open Day on 28th September and registered for the Interactive Tour. This tour was well run and I was able to learn a lot more about the history of CEAC as well as information about the artists we visited. Having a commentary as we walked about was invaluable and made it very interesting. The leaders of the tour kept it fun and alive. I loved it. Thank you.” – Nina

We are here to create a personalised immersive experience for your local area, project, event, community group or company.

We love collaborating with like-minded people around Tamaki Makaurau and the rest of Aotearoa.

We love creating bespoke engaging and interactive experiences that include storytelling, games, community engagement, performing arts, fun activities and lots of joyful moments.

Feel free to reach out to discuss it further. Flick us an email – papayastories@gmail.com / send us a text 022 438 78 06.

“A big thank you to you for the 2 events you ran at OAD this year.  They were clearly immensely popular and seemed to go well on the day. I really appreciate how you have come forward and offered Papaya Stories tailor made to our communities.” – Martin Sutcliffe,  Director, Corban Estate Arts Centre.