Edith Gallery, Whanganui UCOL 16 Rutland St, Whanganui.
Open from 27 June - 23 July 2011, Monday to Friday 10 – 4pm

Invited artists Lily Laita (Auckland),  Kura Te Waru Rewiri (Northland), Faith McManus (Northland), Chaco Kato; (Japan/Australia), Kate Lepper (UK/New Zealand), Helen Manning (Hamilton). Lorraine Webb (Whanganui – curator).

The focus of the exhibition is art as a domain of human connectivity and includes painting, art objects, printmaking, drawing and mixed media work.

The exhibition will be the subject of a paper to be delivered at The World and World-Making in Art: Connectivities and Differences conference at the Australian National University in August 2011.

Presence: New Acquisitions and Works from the Collection includes new acquisitions from photographers Mark Adams and Peter Peryer, alongside Shigeyuki Kihara’s haunting performance video Taualuga: the last dance.

Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts
Rapid Change – 9 July – 4 September 2011

Rapid Change features nine artists who have explored cities facing periods of major transformation. Focussing on Auckland, Detroit, Hong Kong, Liverpool and New York works in the exhibition consider the politics and societal impact of change in the urban environment.

While cities are continually in a state of flux there are often concentrated periods of rapid change that dramatically shape urban landscapes and greatly impact communities. Auckland is currently at the beginning of such a period. The rapid merger of eight regional councils into one ‘Super-city’ government, together with the electoral promise of rapid public transport, has set Auckland on a course of major transformation.  By looking at significant changes in cities around the world Rapid Change considers Auckland’s past and future urban landscape within a global context.

Artists include: Anu Pennanen, Dieneke Jansen, Elisapeta Heta, Gregory Holm, Matthew Radune, Peter Wareing, Stefan Canham, Reuben Moss and Rufina Wu.

Curated by Bruce E. Phillips

NOP.nz is a cross-cultural project between France and New Zealand focused on new orchestra practices. A sound and visual orchestra using a pioneer interactive device, the Meta-Mallette, is established in Auckland since May 2011. The Meta-Mallette enables to approach music and visual creation through gestures rather than music theory or any other codification.

The NOP.nz orchestra is open to people from all backgrounds, no matter how old or skilled they are. The aim is to have an ensemble that represents New Zealand’s cultural diversity.

HOW TO APPLY?
Please submit the following in your application: a completed project submission form (available on request: nolwenn@nop-project.com)
Your summary resume (no more than one page) of you as an artist/creative practicionner. A short artistic statement describing the concept for the creation. This should be 2-3 paragraphs and no more than one page. You have to explain what kind of sounds and images you want to use, what part of NZ culture you want to show, how you want to work with the orchestra (improvisation, score…) support material (no more than two of the following):

- Five images in digital format (jpg)
- Five A4 pages of text or other printed material
- Five minutes of video material (mov)
- Five minutes of audio material (aif, wavor mp 3)
- Please ensure that: the application is emailed as a PDF document. Your name appears on all pages of the application. All support material is clearly labelled. Please email your application and support material to:  nolwenn@nop-project.com

Guideline
8 July 2011: dead line for proposals
22 July 2011: result of the selected artist(s)
12 August 2011: NOP.nz applies for creative NZ quick respons grant
23 September 2011: quick respons grant result
Summer 2011: Meta-Mallette training and creation
February 2012: first rehearsal

CONTACT
For further information or to discuss your application, please contact: Nolwenn Hugain-Lacireconductor and manager of the NOP.nz project nolwenn@nop-project.com
+64 (0) 21 550 397

Lounge Room Tribalism
A closer look into the politics of collecting
City Gallery Wellington
2 July – 31 July 2011

Graham Fletcher’s fascinating suite of paintings, Lounge Room Tribalism, examines the role of indigenous art in contemporary collecting and the problems inherent in acquiring art from other cultures and using it as an element in interior design.

Lounge Room Tribalism features ten recent paintings by this respected artist which will be showcased in the Deane Gallery, City Gallery’s space dedicated to the exhibition of Maori and Pacific art.  Painted in detailed oil on canvas, Fletcher recreates affluent European interiors, complete with modernist furniture and the luxurious trappings of Western society.

Decorating the walls of each of these painted scenes are pieces of indigenous art—wooden masks, spiritual icons, small statues and wall hangings—evidently purchased by the well-to-do owners of these homes and used to decorate their living areas.

Reuben Friend, Curator of Maori and Pacific Art at City Gallery Wellington comments, “Fletcher’s paintings force the viewer to think about how Western society consumes art from other cultures—can these objects ever be fully understood from a Western viewpoint? Though these objects are presented in private homes and personal spaces, Fletcher suggests that they continue to be viewed through the considerable distance of time, space and ideology.”

Graham Fletcher (b. 1969) has an extended history of exhibiting in New Zealand and the Pacific. Recent exhibitions include The New Romantics at the Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato (2011), Headlands Sculpture on the Gulf, Waiheke Island (2009) and Contemporary Exhibition at the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts in American Samoa (2008). Fletcher received a Doctorate in Fine Arts from the University of Auckland in 2010.

Fletcher will provide insights into his practice at an artist’s talk in the Deane Gallery at 2pm, Saturday 2 July.

The Waiheke Community Art Gallery invites submissions from artists wishing to participate in its Artist In Residence programme commencing May 2012.

The Artist In Residence programme presents an artist with the opportunity to reside on Waiheke Island for a 12 week period, and create a body of work for exhibition at the conclusion of the residency.  If you wish to be considered for this project, your application must be received by the gallery no later than 5pm on Wednesday 31st August 2011

Application Form

22 June – 23 July, 2011
Tim Melville Gallery, Newmarket, Auckland
Opening Preview Wed 22nd June, 6pm

CALL OUT FOR ARTISTS

The Interactive Programme Committee is calling for applications from creative practitioners and artists interested in presenting interactive works.

CoLab (AUT University’s creative technologies research centre) and THE EDGE are working collaboratively to present Digital Art Live, an exciting new initiative to showcase digital and interactive visual art in an interactive space. The interactive space is located in the Owens Foyer on Level 2 of the Aotea Centre in Auckland.

Artists are invited to take this opportunity to create work that supports engagement with a public audience through technological experience. They are especially interested in work that is responsive to the audience’s gestural input thus encouraging interaction between the user, the physical space and the onscreen content. However they are also open to considering work that is supported by text input, audio, real time and social networking technologies. They embrace artists or collectives who are producing high end professional works.

Artists are encouraged to visit the space, familiarise themselves with their emerging exhibition program and better understand the mission of the project before submitting a proposal. Strong proposals will be clear & concise and will present innovative and engaging ideas.

All applications must be received by 5pm, Friday 15 July 2011.

Contacts
For further information or to discuss your application, contact Nolwenn Hugain-Lacire, the Digital Art Live Programme Developer: NolwennH@the-edge.co.nz

May 7 – June 19 2011. Open: Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm
Calder & Lawson Gallery, University of Waikato, Hamilton.

New Romantics is an exhibition that explores themes of danger, mystery and desire; reflecting stories that have the potential to thrust the viewer into unknown territories and strange scenario’s. Tattooed women, healing crystals and Primitive idols could easily be associated with the clichéd renderings of the ‘dark romance’ genre. However, New Romantics is an alternative to this highly glamorised portrayal, offering insights into ritual and the human condition.

Featuring Emma Smith, Graham Fletcher, Zina Swanson, Sam Mitchell, Niki Hastings-McFall and Kathryn Tsui.

Thursday 23 June 2011, 6.00pm
Calder & Lawson Gallery, University of Waikato.

Another Universe offers different perspectives on nature in the 21st Century and features art by 10 contemporary artists. In the Calder and Lawson Gallery are works by Richard Orjis, Kim Meek, Roberta Thornley, Jason Hall and we will be joined at the opening by Canadian artist Alex McLeod.

Also for the first time this exhibition will feature site specific installations in other parts of the campus by Denise Fort, Sarah Hughes, Niki Hastings-McFall and Paul Cullen.