This exhibition is now closed
Bob Marley and the Wailers dominated the pop music scene for almost 20 years and left an indelible mark on the philosophies, styles and costumes of the age. With his group "The Wailers", Bob Marley played a vital role in the resurrection and development of Jamaican music from 'ska' through to 'reggae'. When later he embraced Rastifari beliefs his growing commitment to spiritual and social issues became an important part of his music and an undeniably important contribution to youth culture worldwide. This was recognised shortly before his death when he was awarded Jamaica's Order of Merit, an honour that clearly recognised his outstanding contribution to Jamaica's contemporary culture. The vivacious style of the singer and the media attention which followed his career have given us the dramatic photographs which dominate this show. The exhibition also marks the tenth anniversary of the singer's death. He died of cancer, tragically aged just 36, in Miami in 1981.
Bob Marley - An Exhibition is a touring show which consists of a large collection of photographs, graphics and memorabilia selected by the British photographer Adrian Boot from works in the collection of the Bob Marley Museum in Jamaica. Included in these are images from his 1979 New Zealand concert at Western Springs. But of course, without the music the images are but pale shadows. Therefore the show includes extensive video footage of the musician in action and documentary footage of his life as a performer, peacemaker, politician and Rastaman. Assisting these are extended captions with Marley's own quotes and lyrics, news clips and didactic panels.
Bob Marley - An Exhibition is a special opportunity to see, appreciate and place in context, the life and works of Bob Marley. One of the most challenging and charismatic performers of our time, highly successful with audiences in Australia, this exhibition comes to us as part of a world tour which has included the United States, Scandinavia, Europe and Britain. It is brought to Christchurch by Exhibitour New Zealand and supported by New Zealand Van Lines and Polygram New Zealand.
('Bob Marley - An Exhibition', Bulletin, No.98, October/November 1995, p.2)
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Date:
16 November 1996 – 21 January 1997 -
Location:
Robert McDougall Art Gallery - main gallery -
Exhibition number:
615
Related reading: Music
Bulletin 98
October/November 1995
Contents include
Peter Lange exhibition
Bob Marley exhibition
Andrew Drummond exhibition
Notes
What's the difference between a piano and an onion?
Answer: No one cries when you chop up a piano.
Apparently that's only the third worst piano joke of all time...
Notes
Getting Older - Flying Nun
November sees the 30th anniversary of my favourite record label, Flying Nun Records.
Notes
Playing to the Faithful
The 2011 Christchurch Arts Festival has been full of highlights, from theatre to dance to the visual arts. However, it's been the music that has made the biggest impression on me.
Notes
Number 1 Evil, Number 2 Evil, Number 3 Evil…
Finally, the chance to listen to some loud rock music!
Notes
The Satara Player by Petrus van der Velden
Things are not always what they seem. What looks like the result of an artistic foray into exotic lands is, in fact, an 1894 portrait of a Christchurch busker who posed in the studio of Petrus van der Velden.
Commentary
Laurence Aberhart
New Zealand artist Laurence Aberhart is internationally regarded for his photographs of unpeopled landscapes and interiors. He photographs places redolent with the weight of time, which he captures with his century-old large-format camera and careful framing. But he’s always taken more spontaneous photographs of people too, particularly in the years he lived in Christchurch and Lyttelton (1975–83) when he photographed his young family, his friends and occasionally groups of strangers. ‘If I lived in a city again,’ he says, ‘I would photograph people. One of the issues is that I even find it difficult to ask people whether I can photograph a building, so to ask to photograph them – I’m very reticent. I also know that after a number of minutes of waiting for me to set cameras up and take exposure readings and so on, people can get rather annoyed. So it’s not a conscious thing, it’s more just an accident of the way I photograph.’
Interview
J.G. Thirlwell
J.G. Thirlwell is man of many monikers and even more projects: from the epic avant-garde electro-rock of his thirty-five-year Foetus act to scoring orchestral work; creating sound installations to writing cartoon soundtracks. Fellow sonic artist, Jo Burzynska caught up with the Melbourne-born but long-time New York-resident composer/producer/performer at the Gallery before the opening performance of his first ever New Zealand tour.
