We usually navigate the city using our eyes, but what if we were guided by our sense of taste?

This walk is an invitation to explore the flavours that can be found within the city, in which many edible plants grow in the wild. This gustatory tour starting from Christchurch Arts Centre is led by expert forager, Peter Langlands and multisensory artist, researcher and wine writer, Jo Burzynska.

During this foraging tour, Peter will outline how to identify 20 types of wild foods and the key features for accurate identification. Flavours and textures will be explored as well as a discussion on the ecology and fieldcraft to allow you to fully understand and appreciate the foraging experience.

Jo Burzynska will be sharing tasting techniques along the way to aid the sensory appreciation of your foraged fare, and exploring the ways these sensory and aesthetic experiences can connect us more deeply with our urban environments.

This walk is part of Jo’s current multisensory art project as an Artist-in-Residence at The Arts Centre, which explores the city with the non-visual senses to answer the question: What might we find when we stop looking?

Insights and edible elements from this walk will be incorporated into the multisensory artworks Jo is making during this residency that will be presented at the Arts Centre later this year.

Please wear shoes suitable for walking. Bring your phone camera fully charged so you can make a full photographic record of the species we find.

A water bottle is recommended to cleanse your palate after trying each species.

A light raincoat and a small backpack are also recommended, along with a few small containers should you wish to collect some samples.

We are grateful for the support of Creative New Zealand and Stout Trust for our Arts Four Creative Residency Programme in 2021.