Our latest collection show, Parting Darkness, opened at the weekend and appropriately the sun came out after a week of rain and storms. (Finally the darkness has parted - even if it is fleeting).

Parting Darkness features works that play with dark and light, black and white and shadows and silhouettes. It’s a small exhibiton with an eclectic mix of works ranging from ceramics and glass to works on paper and aluminium sculptures. Together, they present a dramatic interplay around the use of light in the darkness.

Darkness Parted and There Was Light by David Brokenshire was the inspiration for the title of the show. It’s a large, heavy egg-shaped sculpture that has one small slither carved out of it. I wonder if it relates to that first sentence in Genesis where, ‘God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness', or maybe it’s designed to show that offering the smallest segment of light out of a dark shape can provide a glimmer of hope.

In a similar way, Raewyn Atkinson's Homelight is also inspired by 'a light in the darkness'.  Made from the most delicate paper porcelains, Homelight is based on the boxes of Homelight oil that remain unopened at Scott’s Cape Evans hut in Antarctica. Beaten to the South Pole by Roald Amundsen, Robert Scott’s defeated party never made it back to the warmth promised by the Homelight oil. All five died of exposure and starvation. After visiting Antarctica Raewyn commented, “The experience of creating a shelter to sleep in during field training provided the inspiration for Home Light, such as the unique qualities of the snow we handled so much to create a home, and the blue light coming through the blocks which made the roof. The imperative need for shelter in such a beautiful but ‘un-homely’ landscape is more than just a physical one. The effect of light is one of the strongest impressions in this environment of extremes, where light is experienced as continual or absent.”

Imagine trudging through the cold and dark land of Antarctic struggling towards the light in the distance... and never making it. I guess it puts Wellington's winters into perspective, but it also reminds me of the ability of a piece of beautiful crafted art to jolt you out of dark mood, and that visiting an art gallery on cold rainy day can offer a senseof escapism from the weariness of day-to-day winter (and house-bound children). In moments of seasonal gloom, beauty, light and art can indeed part the darkness.

 Leanne Wickham, Curator, Programmes and Events

 

 

 

I write this from my hideaway in the hills where I am looking after my daughter who has a stomach bug. I have been researching items for a design season I am working on for later in the year, featuring fabulous designs for children focused on play. Curled up on the couch together, we start looking at a book I am reading, 'Toy Design' by Chris van Uffelen. It's full of beautiful images of play items such as the Ray and Charles Eames plywood elephant, Enzo Mari’s Animal Puzzle and other items of play from around the world. We soon get talking about her favourite place to play, what she loves to play with, and what makes play good for her. We’re not talking Barbies and Nintendo, we discuss open ended structures, smooth and crisp objects that can be built with in multiple ways, nooks and crannies to hide in quietly, and created environments.

The realisation that good design is equally important to children as it is for adults is a relatively recent concept, largely started by the Bauhaus movement.  The Rudolph Steiner and Montessori philosphies have also always believed that good design enhances learning and creativity. More recently many designers, looking for more playfulness in their work, have jumped from designing for adults to designing for children, resulting in some fabulous creations. You can see here Eero Aarnio's Tipi.

The need to play is a basic human desire but yet how often do we…? Defined by ‘doing something that has no specific purpose, except to have fun’, play should be at the core of life. In many ways that’s why I’m interested in the links between design, play and art, because when all three come together, something magical happens.

The first boxes of items to go into our exhibition (which is called 'Play' and opens 1st of December) arrived in the office this week. They’re called BoBles and there was great excitement and laughter as we unpacked the objects and had a wee play.

So this week make some time and ask yourself - when was the last time you had a good play?

Leanne Wickham, Curator Programmes & Events

I’m fond of this odd little plaque for reasons hard to discern in this dodgy snapshot. Included in the bottom list of names is my Grandfather, W.G. Bugden (Walter Gordon, or Wal), one of the City Counsellors involved in the opening of The Dowse, then the Dowse Art Gallery, in 1971.

He’s no longer with us, but I think he would have been proud I am now working here. I’m certain my Nana would have, she was a fervent supporter of The Dowse, and I have fond memories of her frocking up to visit the gallery (a palette of red and white, resolutely matching dress to necklace and handbag).

Family is a central element of working at The Dowse, The Lounge is a hive of activity with kids, and our child-focused exhibitions in Gallery 10 are always popular. One of our most asked for collection items is the extended network of 37 dolls called ‘The Family’ by craft artist Malcolm Harrison.

Malcolm Harrison, Walter, from the series ‘The Family’, 1983-1987. Wool, cotton, synthetic, Llama hair, felt, suede cloth, plated metal, mohair. Collection of The Dowse Art Museum.

Mother’s Day this Sunday got me thinking about artwork about lineage, particularly Campbell Patterson’s work Lifting My Mother For As Long As I Can, on show until the 17^th June. This ongoing video series is recorded annually by the artist and his mum, and currently stands at 7 videos. Each video captures a ritual performed to camera, of, quite literally, the artist holding his mother in his arms, for just as long as he can.

The first video filmed in 2006 is just 2 minutes 7 seconds, but by 2012 he can manage 6 minutes 20 seconds. The first video is also notable for its awkwardness, his mother giggling shyly and clearly uncomfortable. By the final work they approach the task with the nonchalance of an established chore.

Campbell Patterson, Lifting My Mother For as Long as I Can, 2007. Digital still from DVD. 3:03 minutes. Jim Barr and Mary Barr Loan Collection.

Campbell calls the work a photo album; and seeing the works on mass you watch the two of them ageing and changing. Most obvious is the development of Campbell, taking shape from a young man in his early 20s to a fully fledged adult.

The poignancy of the work lies in its suggestion of the reversal in family dynamics that happens with ageing. Lifting My Mother For As Long As I Can charts what occurs when the nurturing role flips from mother to son. For all of us, there is a moment where we realise that, from being our beloved protectors, our parents have somehow become vulnerable themselves, and it will one day be us who must instead care for them. 

Be nice to your mum this Sunday!

 

Emma Bugden, Programmes Manager/Senior Curator

Recently a large shipment of strange looking items made their way up the country from The Dowse to Rotorua Museum.

Looking inside the specially chartered truck you could be mistaken for thinking this was the work of aliens who had landed on Earth. Inside the 24 open crates were carefully wrapped and bound human-like figures in white, with bags on their heads or stocks around their necks. Were these human hostages taken as specimens to be experimented on at some alien outpost in Rotorua?

In fact, this was Bedazzled, The Dowse’s latest touring exhibition of Royal New Zealand Ballet costumes, on its way to the newly redeveloped Rotorua Museum for a three month stint. 

Packing artworks for each touring exhibition calls for creative thinking. Luckily for Shane Norrie, Dowse preparator, ingenuity is his middle name.

Responsible for crating the entire show of 24 fully dressed mannequins and 30 works on paper in the 5 week break between exhibition changeovers, Shane’s first task was to recycle the exhibition’s fancy tongue and groove flooring into crates for each mannequin.

Seatbelts, sashes and stocks were employed in inventive ways to prevent mannequins bouncing, twisting or losing their heads in transit. To protect from dust and other nasties, Dowse Registrar Jo Wehrly and I made customised Tyvek costume covers and each crate was sealed in plastic.

As impressive as those solutions were, my favourite invention turned out to be Shane’s velcro EMPTY/FULL labels for the works on paper crates. This useful device tells tour venues at a glance whether a crate is full of artwork or not. As long as I’ve been a collection manager, I’ve looked for the perfect EMPTY/FULL labels, and been left wanting – until I clapped eyes on Shane’s simple solution. Genius!

Bedazzled is on at Rotorua Museum of Art and History from 5 May to 5 August 2012 and at Tauranga Art Gallery from late January 2013. If you haven’t already experienced it, now’s your chance to see these fantastic ballet costumes designed by the late Kristian Fredrikson for the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Bev Eng, Collections and Touring Manager

 

We have all been incredibly saddened by the untimely passing of curator William McAloon.

I first met William at university in the early 1990s. He was about the only Art History student to venture into the art school studios to see what we were doing, which says it all really. I remember he looked over my shoulder as I was just about to give up on a ridiculously fiddly and time consuming work – his casual comment, 'cool' kept me going for another 3 weeks.

I thought of William recently when we re-assembled The Dowse research library, a long overdue project. Ours is a motley collection of publications which the institution has been amassing since 1971 and had been boxed up for the redevelopment in 2006.

One of the treasures to remerge from the great unpack was a publication that accompanied William’s 1992 Vogue (Vague): New Sculpture, New Sculptors show at the CSA in Christchurch, I think his first real show and our first serious look at people like Giovanni Intra, Peter Robinson and Michael Parekowhai. 

The show was slick and smart, and has always stuck in my memory for the confident and sophisticated breath of fresh air it was. What I remember most was the opening and William striding into the large crowd assembled in the gallery foyer to a thumping beat and the sound of Madonna loudly proclaiming “You're a superstar, yes, that's what you are, you know it, c’mon, Vogue!”   

Now, that was cool.

He set the benchmark in so many ways.

  

Cam McCracken, Director

 

The Indo-European root of the word 'art' is to 'arrange' or 'put together' and Shapeshifter: Sculptures in the Park worked its magic again this year, exhibiting more than 50 works celebrating 'form'. Over 60 classes visited the Civic Gardens to share the joys and wonders of 3D art. 

Students, teachers and whanau were intrigued by the movement of the kinetic sculptures as they suddenly became animated in the wind. Students enjoyed brainstorming possible rescue solutions for the man on the lighthouse and considered what could be growing inside the giant egg. They learned about different materials and the processes artists use to make sculptures. 

One local school was so enchanted by their visit to Shapeshifter, they set aside two days for their students to create their own Shapeshifter exhibition. The students began by collecting then playing with objects and materials for their artworks, organising them in a myriad of ways, trying new combinations and observing the arrangements before finally joining the pieces. They were very proud of their efforts and we'd like to thank everyone for sharing their masterpieces with us. Also, a big thanks to everyone involved with Shapeshifter 2012, the collection of works will continue to inspire our youth even after the sculptures have gone to their new homes.

 

Jen Boland, Learning Programmes Manager 

 

As many of you will know, last month we cancelled the Teresa Margolles installation, So It Vanishes. It’s hard to condense this very complex work down to one sentence, but essentially it’s a gallery filled with bubbles that contain a tiny essence of water sourced from a morgue in Mexico City. Like all of Margolles’ work, So It Vanishes talks about death and memory. It’s a work that some people might find shocking, but that we saw—and still do see—as profoundly beautiful, evocative and moving.

 

By now, many of you would have also read the media stories and online bulletin boards around the issues of the cancelation. You’ll know that because of the work's themes, I had been in consultation with our iwi, Te Atiawa, last year. Our dialogue was positive, and centred on how the Margolles work had much in common with Nuku Tewhatewha, the ceremonial Pataka in on permanent display at the Dowse. However, a week from opening, it was apparent that iwi support for the exhibition was withdrawn, and I made the difficult decision to cancel the show.

 

Both Nuku Tewhatewha and Margolles’ work can be thought of as strong political statements that provide a voice for the marginalised. Nuku Tewhatewha was carved in the 1850s as a mark of support for the budding pan-Maori Kingitanga movement. The Kingitanga aimed to unite tribal groups under one paramount leader or King, who would have the status to negotiate directly with the Queen of England in order to redress the injustices that Iwi groups were suffering under British rule in the new colony.

 

The decision to cancel was the hardest I’ve had to make in my career, and it was very difficult for the rest team here too. It was a time of tough talking, hurt, anger, of tears even, but also of some pretty interesting and meaningful conversations. We were all challenged, but the experience has confirmed for me why we work in the arts, and what we stand for.

 

I want to again extend my thanks to Teresa and also to Claudia Arozqueta, guest curator of the exhibition for The Dowse, for their empathy and understanding of an extremely difficult situation. There’s still sadness for us that audiences won’t get to experience a work we know would have had the power to move, delight and confront. I’m also grateful to the iwi for their aroha and for the frank and very real conversations.

 

At The Dowse we purport to work with communities, and I guess this is what that looks like—not always seamless, not always pretty, but hopefully always honest. This month has reflected our commitment to Te Atiawa, and our responsibility as guardians of Nuku Tewhatewha.

 

So what does that mean and what happens next? Mostly, it’s still all about talking and listening. The Sunday after the exhibition was cancelled, Emma Bugden (Senior Curator at The Dowse) and I gave a floortalk in the gallery space, an open forum to talk through the issues and ideas with our audience. Next, we as a whole staff will be visiting Waiwhetu Marae, which I hope will be a more private chance to share thoughts and ideas. As we move on, our challenge is to ensure that we critically examine how Nuku Tewhatewha can sit comfortably in a contemporary art museum and that we strengthen our bonds with iwi groups in the city to help us do this.

 

Cam McCracken

Dowse Director 

On Sunday 4 March, Bedazzled, our very popular exhibition of ballet costumes from The Royal New Zealand Ballet, closed after three months of enjoyment and many school groups visiting. The children enjoyed discovering and identifying the characters in the exhibition; from ballets like A Christmas Carole, Peter Pan, Cinderella and Swan Lake. They loved creating their own amazing costume designs using different types of fabrics, paper and sequins.

We have had great fun with our visiting classes wearing artworks from our tactile collection to dress up as a character camouflaging amongst flowers; a magician; an alien; a Weet-bix vendor; a rock star; an alien hunter; a monster hunter; a cowboy; a ghost; and a fairy.

Last week we had nine classes from Hutt Central School visit us to explore the many costumes that have been gifted to The Dowse by the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Here are two designs from Hutt Central that we think make a great pair.

Thanks everyone for coming and for sharing your great ideas with us. It has been so much fun!

Anna Rae and Jen Boland,  LEOTC Educators

 

 

Thomas Clater, Scandal! Only Think suspended in its crate using home-made doovers 

Director Cam McCracken is in Auckland tonight to attend the opening of White Cloud Worlds at Lopdell House Gallery along with featured artists Stephen Crowe, Nick Keller, Ben Wootten and Paul Tobin and Kate Jorgensen of Ignite Inc (co-collaborators of the exhibition and book). The exhibition attracted such great attention at The Dowse that it was an obvious choice to add to our touring programme, and Lopdell is the inaugural venue of a tour that includes Rotorua and Waikato. 

Vita Cochran, Huttette at 21 and Paul Rayner, Carmen, ready for the road

Last week another of our much-loved shows, Who Am I?, featuring tasty works by Frances Hodgkins, Rita Angus, Jeffrey Harris, Michael Smither, Jim Cooper, Vita Cochran, and many other whimsical and wonderful pieces, opened at the newly redeveloped Rotorua Museum of Art and History. 

A heap of work goes into getting each of our exhibitions on the road and over the summer (what summer?), we were busy preparing the artworks for the road – crating, nesting (creating foam nests for unusual shaped artworks), making our own doovers (a specialised hanging system for keeping paintings suspended in their crates), labelling, documenting, writing tour manuals, condition reporting and compiling marketing and education material.

Stephen Lambert, WETA-bot, pictured with precise instructions for packing

Faced with protecting some very challenging fragile shapes (think intricate mechanical robotic wetas), our first-time cratemaker/nester Torben Tilly garnered high praise for his skills.

It's extremely satisfying sending our exhibitions on the road to be enjoyed by art lovers around the country. Every show is different and presents its own unique challenges. Next up, Bedazzled is getting the treatment. Twenty-four fully dressed mannequins and thirty works on paper are being housed for the trip up North. Catch the show here until March 4th or in Rotorua from April 27. 

Bev Eng, Collections and Touring Manager

 

Jim Cooper's Me and Blowie in Bed nestled in its crate

 

What a welcoming sight! Walking into the Dowse Art Museum this morning was like walking past fields of cheer. The sunflowers that were planted last year as part of the Sunshine Project to raise awareness of the plight of the New Zealand Bee are flowering. While taking this photograph I noticed that there were some very happy bees laden with nectar that they’d been collecting. On behalf of the bees I’d like to thank Julia from Great Start Community House, the students from St Matthews and Pomare School and all the Museum visitors who took the time to plant a sunflower and make a wish. You’ve all made a difference.

I wonder if it’s true what they say about sunflowers all turning their heads to face the sun, I will be investigating. Now we just need the sun to co-operate.

Jen Boland, Learning Programmes Manager