Tuesday 16 June 2009

fresh out of the box

Fresh out of the Box is an exhibition currently showing in the hybrid Puke Ariki centre, located in Taranaki, NZ. Puke Ariki is a combined visitor centre, library, art gallery and workshop space that fosters engagement with knowledge past, present and future. A wonderful building located in the heart of provincial NZ it is a standout for small city innovation and worth a visit.

In this particular exhibition (curated by Bill Milbank) 80 objects from the heritage collection were picked out by researcher Ron Lambert to illustrate what it is like to be a Taranakian. The works included rugs, books, barbed wire fences, school uniforms and other cultural artefacts. 15 artists then were invited to reinterpret (and subvert) these items - using them as inspiration for a series of multimedia and traditional pieces. I particularly liked:


Ngahina Hohaia's mixed media installation that projected images of local Maori in and out of a giant circle of intricately hand embroidered poi(left).






Nicole Freeman's surreal painting of a child based on a collection of photographs from the centre's Swainson Collection (top),

and Paul Hartigan's beautiful neon mini-installations inspired by a rag rug carpet (below).

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