forthcoming
Reconstruction: conversations on a city
23 Jun 2012 – 16 Sep 2012
In acknowledging architectural heritage loss in this city's present and past, this visually rich outdoor exhibition unfolds the ways in which dreams and values have been given form in our built environment.
Louise Henderson Manchester Street, Christchurch (detail) 1929. Oil on board. Dame Louise Henderson Collection, presented by the McKegg Family 1999. Reproduced with permission
Film
3 News & Blog Articles
Architectural renderings
It's difficult not to have one's head filled with buildings right now – and not just because we're working on the edges of the broken town.
Christchurch Cathedral in 1878...
...feels remarkably close to Christchurch Cathedral at this present moment. I have no idea of what the lesson is here, but there surely is one. Any suggestions?
Doc Ross: photographing the red zone
Sydenham-based photographer Doc Ross and his camera have been investigating the Christchurch urban environment for the past 14 years.
3 Bulletin Articles
Perimeter Notes: A day around the red zone
With Christchurch Art Gallery still closed and the city rattled by aftershocks, senior curator Justin Paton set out early this year for a walk around the red zone to look for 'signs of art-life'. In this diary of his day, he finds toppled monuments, long-hidden murals, 'outlaw greenery' – and a whole lot of wire-mesh fence.
Drawing Circles Inside the Square
Looking broadly at the topic of local architectural heritage and urban design, the exhibition Reconstruction: conversations on a city will be a major feature of the Gallery's programme when we reopen. Here, through a selected group of artworks, curator Ken Hall takes a brief historical visual tour of Cathedral Square, one of the city's best-known spaces, and finds himself in a landscape rendered barely recognisable.
Jenny Harper in conversation with Richard McGowan
Richard McGowan: How should we approach the rebuild of the central city from an arts and culture perspective?
Jenny Harper: Returning to Christchurch in 2006, after more than thirty years away, I was continually struck by how overwhelmingly empty the central city was. Even prior to the earthquake, when I came back from somewhere – almost anywhere – else, I felt that the inner city was un-populated, almost unoccupied, by comparison with others.
About this Exhibition
As Christchurch faces the enormous challenge of rebuilding, Reconstruction brings together a captivating selection of images of drawings, photographs, paintings and plans that demonstrate the ways in which different dreams and values have been given form in our built environment. In looking at our foundations, the exhibition shows Christchurch to have existed in archaeological layers: change is recognised as a constant as the city moves from wood, stone and brick through to concrete and glass. There will be value here for those wishing to shape our city's future.
Find out more in the Reconstruction My Gallery set.
Part of the
Current Exhibitions
Jae Hoon Lee Annapurna 2010. Digital photograph. Commissioned in 2010 for Springboard
Jae Hoon Lee: Annapurna
Nov 2010 – Sep 2012
Forecourt
Julia Morison Aibohphobia 2011. Acrylic paint
Julia Morison: Aibohphobia
Jun 2011 – Sep 2012
Forecourt
Wayne Youle I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour (detail) 2011. Reproduced courtesy of the artist
Wayne Youle: I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour
Ongoing