Past Exhibitions
The Molly Morpeth Canady 3 D Award: Glass 2009 |
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The Molly Morpeth Canady 3 D Award: Glass 2009 The Molly Morpeth Canady 3 D Award has been established as an annual event to encourage and recognise the quality of creativity found in the area of three-dimensional applied arts. These Awards have been made possible through a trust fund established by Frank H Canaday in memory of his wife, New Zealand born artist Molly Morpeth Canaday (1903 – 1971). The Molly Morpeth Canady Trust has been a major supporter of the Arts in Whakatane. The Whakatane District Museum & Gallery Te Whare Taonga o Whakatāne would like acknowledge the generous support of the Trustees of the Molly Morpeth Canady Trust for their continuing support of excellence in the Arts. This scintillating exhibition – always a highlight of our arts calendar - recognises the quality of creativity found in the area of three-dimensional art and showcases the expertise of those working in the medium of glass. |
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Te Taonga Tuturu The True Treasures: A Private Collection of Contemporary Art |
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Te Taonga Tuturu Te Taonga Tuturu is a multi-faceted show which draws together seemingly disparate threads to weave an arts experience that will resonate with many people, for many different reasons. Te Taonga Tuturu presents a unique opportunity to see works created over the past fifteen years by renowned artists, including John Pule, John Walsh, Tony Schuster, Greg Semu and Lisa Reihana. Unique, because the works are from a private collection and have been resting in a homestead in Ruatoki for almost a decade. They, together with other treasures, will be presented as an installation which will only exist for the duration of the show. Conceived by Terry Firkin and curated by Jim Vivieaere, Te Taonga Tuturu is dedicated to Tuhoe Kaumatua Paora Noho Kruger and is a tribute to all members of the New Zealand Maori Battalion. |
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The Commentator Works by Andrea Cooper |
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Duration: 18 April - 24 May 2009 There are paintings that have invaded our contemporary lives over the years; Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, Marilyn Munroe by Andy Warhol and the water lily series by Eduard Monet. Although we have become increasingly familiar with these artworks we rarely question what they mean or even why they were painted. In many cases these works were a political or social comment and reflected the artist’s own perspective on the issues of the day. Local artist Andrea Cooper is fascinated by popular culture. She is a self confessed news fiend, and a compulsive obsessive image addict. As a commentator on popular culture and globalism, Cooper takes famous works of art and adds her own interpretations; referencing rugby, politics and celebrity. This exhibition features some of Cooper’s previous paintings influenced by artists such as Pablo Picasso and also includes new sculptural works, created especially for this showing at the Whakatane District Museum & Gallery. |
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Reference Section |
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Duration: 18 April - 24 May 2009 Art has always relied on the ability of its audience to recognise the signs and symbols used to communicate a message. Reference Section brings together a group of artists who all utilise an individual iconography to explore the way in which we take our immediate environment for granted, what hidden messages are we missing as we go about our everyday lives? |
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Surveyors |
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Surveyors New Zealand is a place world renowned for its scenic beauty. However when we think of the landscape we live in it is easy to forget the complex history New Zealand has with its colonial past. This country has been changed beyond recognition from pre-European times and even the Maori, celebrated for their understanding of the natural world have been responsible for their own manipulation of the land to suit their needs. In more recent years the growth of suburban developments and the race for the tourism dollar has created a country torn between the desire for progress and the desperate need to retain its clean-green image. Surveyors attempts to emphasise some of these ideas by highlighting the things we don’t see, or fail to notice. The exhibition features works by artists who have picked up on the details we often miss. A scenic outlook as the rain clouds close in and the tourists depart, the beach obscured by the plantations designed to keep the sands from shifting into beach front houses, and a year in the life of a volcano seen through the lens of a solitary immobile camera. Surveyors includes works by Jodi Stuart, Dieneke Jansen and Ingrid Boberg. |
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Champions: New Zealand Winners - A Photographic Exhibition by Jessie Casson |
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Duration: 7 March - 12 April 2009 This exhibition Champions: New Zealand Winners grew out of a trip the photographer Jessie Casson and her family took around the country. During their travels they encountered ordinary New Zealanders who had outstanding achievements. The exhibition will hopefully provide some insight to the personal philosophies and the competitions these inspiring individuals compete in. A feel good exhibition, Champions: New Zealand Winners celebrates the individual New Zealand champion and will leave the viewer feeling inspired and hopefully motivated to pursue their own dreams and aspirations. It highlights the fact that in order to be a champion you do not have to be an All-black or professional sports person. Champions: New Zealand Winners, is touring the regional galleries of NZ. The Exhibition is accompanied by a book of the same name. |
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New Threads |
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New Threads: When we think of weaving our initial response is to think of traditions associated with women. However, there is a change afoot, a growing network of male weavers who are making waves both locally and on the international stage. New Threads is an exhibition which seeks to identify and promote just a small percentage of the weaving practice currently being produced by male weavers in New Zealand and to dispel some long held misconceptions about the role men have played in the history of weaving. The exhibition features the work of 8 contemporary male weavers; Nigel How, Karl Leonard, Peter Morgan, Lane Hawkins, David Pont, Te Ao Marama Ngarimu, Matthew McIntyre-Wilson and Matene Climie. Although the makers in New Threads have all referenced techniques and materials used in Maori raranga traditions, they are not all Maori. The works in this exhibition demonstrate a coming together of art forms practiced by the indigenous peoples of New Zealand and the innovative additions of ideas and materials from around the world. This exhibition was curated by Mark Sykes and Karl Chitham. |
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Telling Tales |
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Telling Tales: Whispered conversations behind closed doors, skeletons in the closet and secret societies; it is hard to resist the excitement of a good story. With popular movies and books like National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code also adding to our appetite for conspiracy it seems like the perfect time to uncover some of our local clandestine tales. The Whakatāne Museum & Gallery collections are full of treasures with interesting pieces of history attached to them. Sometimes there is a little tid-bit that alludes to an amazing account or in other cases there is nothing but a rumor or hearsay to guide us. Telling Tales: Stories of Ritual and Tradition provided an opportunity to explore the museums collections in more detail. In many cases the objects themselves may not be particular exciting to look at, but the story they hold is more remarkable than we could ever have dreamed. Telling Tales: Stories of Ritual & Tradition was an interactive exhibition which allowed the viewer to decide whether the information on each label accompanying the objects on display were true or false. We had over 70 entries for the competition and had such a positive response we have posted the answers for you all to see how well you may have done. We had 4 people who went into the draw with 22 out of a possible 28 correct answers. We would like to offer our congratulations to the winner of this draw, Rachel Alexander, from Auckland. |
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Sister City: A Photographic Portrait of Kamagaya City, Japan |
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Sister City: A Photographic Portrait of Kamagaya City, Japan Opening Friday 7 November 6pm In 2007 the Whakatāne District Museum & Gallery curated an exhibition of 40 photographic images from the collections to send to our Sister City museum in Kamagaya, Japan. The exhibition marked the 10th anniversary of the Sister City agreement between Whakatāne and Kamagaya and also marked the beginning of a relationship between the respective museums. The project proved so successful that the Kamagaya City Museum staff offered to curate their own exhibition. The exhibition features 54 photographs which give a brief overview of Kamagaya City and the surrounding region. It is also an opportunity to gain some insight into the history and culture of our Sister City friends. |
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Art Exposé |
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| Art Exposé: Opening Friday 7 November 6pm Once again the Whakatāne District Museum & Gallery is pleased to host an exhibition of works by members of the Whakatane Society of Arts & Crafts. This year some of the members have made works to sit along side our Sister City exhibition, while others have produced new works exploring other themes. This exhibition is always greatly anticipated, full to the brim with delights and surprises for all. It is also an opportunity to purchase that special gift or the perfect addition to your art collection. |
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u r here |
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Opening Friday 3 October 6pm u r here is an exhibition by 8 contemporary artists who have created works about specific locations around Whakatane. From a list of local landmarks each artist drew three locations from which they picked one spot. Using this as a starting point each artist has created a new body of works for the exhibition. When looking at the works in most exhibitions you could easily ask, “What was the artist responding to?” u r here cleverly provides many of the answers to these questions while still having works that are both interesting and conceptually sound. Irrespective of the diversity of the art, each is a personal response to the beauty, history and people of the Whakatane District. The artists; Nicola Bennett, Esther Hansen, John Horner, Heather Hourigan, Patricia Long, Adrienne Ranson, Henry Symonds and Joya Todd, saw the challenge of creating an exhibition for the people of Whakatane as an exciting and fun notion.
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Nowhere Isles |
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Nowhere Isles Opening Friday 3 October 6pm ‘“Islands in the stream that is what we are…” sang Kenny Rodgers and dolly parton in 1983. This line from their country-rock hit is a perfect introduction to Andrea du Chatenier’s Nowhere Isles – a series of cosy, woolly three-dimensional rug-islands with malleable mountain lumps for leaning against or sharing with a friend. They’re cuddly and beautiful and, when we’re in need of seclusion, some alone time, or comfort TV in the middle of a busy life, they are sanctuaries, harbours in the storm, rocks to cling to.’ As part of this fun world of wool, du Chatenier has also created her own vision of White Island. This recent addition to the archipelago is a sulphuric yellow and ash grey gem that reflects aspects of the islands human history while also managing to sit nicely amidst its cheerful volcanic cousins. The Whakatane District Museum & Gallery and the Whakatane District Library will be running some fun school holiday programmes in conjunction with this exhibition. |
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Molly Morpeth 3D Awards: Glass 08 |
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Duration: 24 August – 28 September 2008 The Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Award has been established as an annual event to encourage and recognise the quality of creativity found in the area of three-dimensional applied arts. This year we aim to promote excellence in glass design and craftsmanship. Previous years have focused on works by those in the ceramics and jewellery communities and in years to come other media may be chosen, but always with a three-dimensional focus. These Awards have been made possible through a trust fund established by Frank Canaday in memory of his wife, Molly Morpeth Canaday. The trust has been a major supporter of the Arts in Whakatane and the Whakatane District Museum & Gallery would like to offer their thanks for the Trusts continuing support of these awards. The Whakatane District Museum & Gallery and The Molly Morpeth Canaday Trust would like to congratulate the winners of The Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Awards: Glass for 2008. The quality of entries this year was extremely high and we would like to offer our thanks to all those that entered the awards. We received fifty entries and from these twenty finalists were selected for the exhibition. The awards selector and judge, Claire Regnault, (Concept Development Manager, The New Dowse, Lower Hutt) offered these comments at the awards ceremony on Saturday 23rd August: “It has been a great opportunity to get a snap shot of what is happening in glass around the country and demonstrates that the sector is in great health. While many of the usual suspects were welcomely present, most excitingly there were many engaging surprises – new practitioners, new directions. Awards shows always contain a number of equally strong works – conceptually and technically. However, when you walk away from the works, there are always one or two pieces that stay with you - that continue to resonate and captivate. I have chosen two of these works as the winners – a momento mori and a warning.” Overall Winner ($5000) Lee Brogan Bombora Pate de verre Judges’s comment: “Fragile and powerful, both grunty and refined, Lee’s work was completely unexpected. As the award demands, it is innovative and progressive.” Creative Excellence Award ($1000) Layla Walter Kokako 45% lead crystal, cast glass Judges’s comment: “A beautifully refined and elegant piece imbued with poignancy.” |
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Exhibition highlights Presbyterian missionaries and Tūhoe histories.
Whakatāne District Museum & Gallery will host a five-week exhibition entitled Hihita and Hoani: Missionaries in Tuhoeland, which coincides with the premiere of Vincent Ward’s film The Rain of the Children. Both of these cultural events focus on the Urewera Ranges and the isolated settlements of Ruatāhuna and Maungapohatu, home to Rua Kenana and his followers.

Duration: 

taku tuhoetana is a contemporary photographic installation by photographer Aimee Ratana. Being of Tuhoe descent, Ratana has produced a significant body of works which explore the rich histories of iwi, hapu and whanau.
These new works will be exhibited alongside Tuhoe images from the photographic archives of the Whakatane District Museum & Gallery. Ratana is also keen to show the importance photography now holds within Maori culture, both as a physical reminder of the past and also as an ongoing record of the present.
Haki (flags) take on a life of their own when raised to the sky. They identify who we are, where we are from, our needs, our intentions, they transcend spoken language. Te Kooti used many such flags freely, adopting the symbols imported by the christian church and imbuing them with new meaning.
This exhibition by textile and multi media artist Rona Ngahuia Osborne features works which explore the myriad of meanings associated with the haki. In a district with a long history of conflict, Whakatane is well placed to host an exhibition which is both softly spoken and sympathetic to the issues of change.
Having recently returned from a successful showing at the Kamagaya City Museum, Japan; Whakatāne: A Photographic History celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the signing of a Sister City Agreement in 1997. In October 2007 the exhibition travelled to Kamagaya with a group of students from Trident High School. The exhibition was very well received and plans are already underway for an exhibition of photographs from Kamagaya to be shown here in October this year.
Uncle Tasman is a beautiful and moving video installation by photomedia artist Natalie Robertson. The installation documents many significant sites around Robertson’s hometown of Kawerau that have been irreversibly damaged by local industry, including the ever controversial Tasman Pulp & Paper Mill.
26th Jan – 2nd Mar 2008
10th Nov – 13th Jan 2008
10th Nov – 13th Jan 2008
18th August – 30th September 2007
6 October – 4 November 2007
5th June – 15th July 2007
10 March - 20 May 2007
25 November 2006 – 14 January 2007