Exhibitions
Events
On display
Eeling in the Ōtākaro by Francis Upritchard
Francis Upritchard Eeling in the Ōtākaro 2021-2023
Bronze [from balata rubber], limestone. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased 2023 with the support of the Ngarita Charlotte Hounam Johnstone bequest
Art Bite
Past event
Meet in the exhibition
Free
Join volunteer guide Stephanie Beth as she discusses Francis Upritchard's Eeling in the Ōtākaro on display in Dummies & Doppelgängers on the ground floor.
Art Bites are 30-minute lunchtime presentations on a single work on display, presented by our staff, guides and guest speakers.
There's a new Art Bite to enjoy each Friday at 12 noon (except during public and school holidays).
Related reading: Free event
Exhibition
Dummies & Doppelgängers
2 November 2024 – 23 March 2025
The unforgettable art of being someone else.
Collection
Francis Upritchard Eeling in the Ōtākaro
A sense of support and interconnectedness animates this work. It delighted Francis Upritchard to learn of two yōkai (or ‘strange apparitions’) from Japanese folklore known together as Ashinaga-Tenaga (Long Legs and Long Arms), ‘helper’ figures who symbolise harmonious working relationships. In her retelling, long-armed Tenaga-jin (手長人) sits on long-legged Ashinaga-jin’s (足長人) shoulders while they fish in deep water. Together, they do what they could never manage apart. They are tangled and bound by a pair of swimming tuna (eels) – like those living in the Ōtākaro Avon River that winds through Ōtautahi Christchurch.
(Dummies & Doppelgängers, 2 November 2024 – 23 March 2025)
