The obliteration room (2002–present) is a family-friendly and participatory installation by one of the world’s most popular, well-loved artists, Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929 Matsumoto, Japan).

Beginning as a stark white interior, it encourages you to transform the space of our Creative Learning Centre by saturating it with a rainbow of brightly coloured dots. Watch as, over time, a dizzying blur of colour is built up by visitors applying brightly coloured stickers in various sizes to every surface.

With the familiar characteristics of a typical Aotearoa New Zealand home, The obliteration room at Auckland Art Gallery encourages visitors, especially children, to experience and engage with the artwork with little or no prompting.

Originally developed by Yayoi Kusama for the Queensland Art Gallery’s APT 2002: Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, The obliteration room has toured to London, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janiero, Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Shanghai, South Korea, Switzerland, France and Dunedin.