Introduction & Community Tactile Art Competition Information
Eye Health Aotearoa is an organisation that wants to help people in New Zealand look after their eyes and stop people from going blind.
Eye Health Aotearoa is a Charitable Trust with Trustees from Blind Low Vision NZ, Glaucoma NZ, Kāpō Māori Aotearoa, Macular Degeneration New Zealand, New Zealand Association of Optometrists, Sight Support Trust, The University of Auckland School of Optometry and Vision Science, The Royal Australian New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists, Visual Impairment Charitable Trust Aotearoa (NZ) (VICTA).
In New Zealand people often don’t know they are going blind until it's too late. If they had visited an eye care professional sooner, they would still be able to see.
Our #LoveYourEyesNZ campaign is asking New Zealanders to join our Tactile Art Competition to raise awareness of eye health and sign our petition for a National Eye Health Survey.
Tactile Art Competition
For World Sight Day 2022, Eye Health Aotearoa is promoting a National Tactile Art Competition to raise awareness of eye health, and to petition the government to fund a vital national eye health survey.
Find out more and register on the Eye Health Aotearoa website.
#LOVEYOUREYESNZ
In New Zealand people go blind sometimes. They often don’t know they are going blind until it’s too late. If they had visited an eye care professional sooner, they would still be able to see.
At the moment we don’t know how many people are going blind or why they are going blind or where they live in New Zealand. This makes it hard to work out how to help people.
We are asking the New Zealand Government to pay for a survey to find out how many people have vision problems. This would be the first ever National Eye Health Survey in New Zealand. We have set up an “Open Letter Petition” which we will be sending to the Minister of Health. We need lots of people to sign it so the Government will listen.
Sign the Petition to the Government.
#LOVEYOURART
We are asking community groups in New Zealand to set up an art competition in their area to help make people more aware about looking after their eyes. That is why this competition is called “Love Your Eyes”.
It is also important that you, your friends and whanau know that you should have an eye health check every two years.
It doesn’t matter how young or old you are. This means a problem with your eyes will be picked up early, preventing you from becoming blind.
Eye Health Aotearoa is an organisation that wants to help people in New Zealand look after their eyes and stop people from going blind.
Find out more and register at on the Eye Health Aotearoa website
Get Your Community Involved!
Your school, club, community group or marae can help by organising a “Tactile Art Competition”.
You could join with another group in your community or do it by yourselves.
Tactile Art means art that you can touch. This means a blind person can feel the art. For example, the art could be rough or smooth or fluffy.
The art could be made of different shapes that a blind person can feel with their fingers.
The best piece of overall artwork from each community competition is to be sent to Wellington to be displayed in a national competition from 10 – 14 October.
The prize giving celebration will be on 12th October in Wellington.
Find out more and register on the Eye Health Aotearoa website.
Community / Regional Competition Information
The best piece of overall artwork from each community competition is to be sent to Wellington to be displayed in a national competition from 10th – 14th October.
If you are running a competition with more than one age category then you will need to also choose an overall winner. This winner will be the artwork you enter into the Love Your Eyes National Art Competition in Wellington. Prizes at the national competition will be awarded for People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice Awards.
The winners of the Love Your Eyes National Tactile Art Competition will be announced in Wellington on 12th October.
We are celebrating World Sight Day (13th October) - the international day encouraging everyone to “love your eyes”.
Find out more and register on the Eye Health Aotearoa website.
Competition Guidelines
Artwork can be big or small but if it is standing on the floor, like a sculpture or hanging on the wall it can’t be bigger than 1m x 1m.
This means we can fit all the artwork into the venue which is the Copthorne Hotel Oriental Bay.
It is important the artwork is strong enough to be transported to Wellington. The maximum weight is 20kgs. (If you want to make something bigger, please contact us to discuss it).
Please write a short description of the artwork that is to be displayed beside the art.
During the competition we request that you ask people in your community to sign the petition asking the Government to pay for the first-ever National Eye Health Survey.
Find out more and register at the Eye Health Aotearoa website.
Age Group Categories
We have three categories for artwork based on age group:
i. Children up to 11 years of age
ii. Children 12 –18 years of age
iii. Adults 19 years and above
Tactile Art Judging Criteria
You can arrange to judge your competition in a way that works for your community. We just ask that you use the list below to make sure it is fair for everyone.
Choose your judges to suit your community. They decide the winners of your community’s Tactile Art Competition following our criteria noted above.
Is the artwork interesting if you touch or feel it?
Will it be interesting for a person who is vision impaired? When you judge this artwork, remember to think about whether it was made by a child and how old they are. Have they used the materials in a creative way?
All entries must be under 1 x 1 m (where it contacts the wall or floor) and not be heavier than 20kgs unless approved by Eye Health Aotearoa.
Find out more and register on the Eye Health Aotearoa website
Read this page in: