Design Concept
Press is a STEM toolkit for students aged 8-12 that promotes cultural exchange through stamp-making.
Press creates an environment where students can share cultural symbols, imagery, and themes to accompany their cultural stories.
Problem Statement
How might we re-imagine a STEM kit that combines play and technological exploration alongside indigenous narratives as a means of cultural exchange?
AKAU proposes the creation of a STEM kit to help prepare tamariki to navigate the world of tomorrow by providing them with the lessons and tools of our ancestors. Lessons that we, as 21st-century designers, have been taught. A toolkit requiring no inherent complexity of technology but one that needs to be framed by our stories as a means of cultural exchange.
How it Works
The teacher presents a drawing of a cultural story. Students are encouraged to fill in the blanks in the image by drawing their own cultural symbols that parallel ideas and themes in the story. The drawn symbols are fabricated into stamp patterns, and the students stamp their murals. Students then share the meanings behind the cultural symbols they have added, enabling cultural exchange within the group.
