Fiona Pardington The prow of the Charlotte Jane 2009. Digital print.
Reproduced courtesy of the artist.
Fiona Pardington The prow of the Charlotte Jane 2009. Digital print.
Reproduced courtesy of the artist.
This exhibition is now closed
In September 1850 more than 150 settlers left England for Canterbury, New Zealand, aboard the Charlotte Jane. A century later a Christchurch glass-blower called John Rowe, a descendant of one of those passengers, recreated the ship as a scale model. The model is now in the collection of Canterbury Museum, where it was photographed recently by Fiona Pardington. In this new incarnation, floating in a black void, the Charlotte Jane has become a ghost ship – at once imposing and skeletal, beautiful and fragile.
Further works by Pardington can be seen inside the Gallery, in the exhibition Brought to Light: A New View of the Collection.
-
Date:
10 November 2009 – 31 October 2010 -
Exhibition number:
836B
Related
Exhibition
Tiki: Orphans of Māoriland
31 January – 12 July 2020
Orphaned faux hei tiki and a complex story of interaction, exchange and exploitation.
Exhibition
Ship Songs
3 September 2016 – 6 February 2017
A small but poetic exhibition looking at early European and Māori representations of seafaring vessels, with the Charlotte Jane as a focal point.
Notes
Venice Biennale 2026 Announcement
We are delighted to finally be able to publicly share the very exciting news that the Gallery has been selected as the delivery partner for Aotearoa New Zealand’s exhibition at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Notes
Creative New Zealand announces La Biennale di Venezia artist and partnership with Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
Esteemed artist Fiona Pardington MNZM (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Clan Cameron of Erracht) will represent New Zealand at La Biennale di Venezia in 2026.