B.215
Director's Foreword
Director's Foreword
It feels a bit strange to be writing the foreword for the autumn edition of Bulletin on one of Ōtautahi Christchurch’s hottest days. However, here I am, welcoming in a new year and enjoying an amazing summer, while signalling a change in seasons and a range of new exhibitions and programmes here at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. It has been a fantastic, bustling summer for the Gallery so far, and we have welcomed over 60,000 visitors between 1 December 2023 and 31 January 2024.
Commentary
Encountering Aotearoa: Whenua, Place and Practice
I stand staring at a painting of Motupōhue Bluff Hill. Being from the far south myself, its shape is instantly recognisable, its silhouette painted in vibrant colours that mirror the way light reflects on the real Motupōhue. The paint used to create this familiar scene is made from whenua, and includes pukepoto, the rich blue pigment that comes from the land near the hill: my whenua. There’s a resonance between the work and its materials that makes it special, layered with connections that reflect my own identity and experiences, reaffirming memories and a sense of belonging.
Commentary
Channelling
In this issue of Bulletin we invited writer and curator Simon Gennard to respond to the exhibition Spring Time is Heart-break. Simon delves into works by artists Wendelien Bakker, Madison Kelly (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Pākehā) and Lucy Meyle, which each examine complex entanglements across species and human/non-human relationships. Looking to the dynamic thinking of writer Ursula Le Guin, Simon offers another way of looking at these artistic practices, as a process of making kin within our contemporary world.
Commentary
Abandoned Ancestors
Between 1971 and 1978, a selection of twelve early oil portraits came into the collection – a finely painted lineup of mostly British sitters, some named and some unidentified, whose arrival can be seen in a number of different ways.
My Favourite
![Toss Woollaston: Untitled [Quentin (Kin) Woollaston Shearing]](/media/cache/89/81/89813389f1be4baa3817a7260a3b0cc7.jpg)
Toss Woollaston: Untitled [Quentin (Kin) Woollaston Shearing]
“Teddy you fucking mongrel! Stay in your place, so help me you fuzzy prick!” my four-year-old self shouted at my hapless toy bear during Christmas lunch in 1981.