The Christchurch Art Gallery re-opened on Saturday 19 December 2015, and has had record visit numbers ever since. Their latest publication is 101 works of art, beautifully designed by Aaron Beehre, features texts by Lara Strongman, Ken Hall, Felicity Milburn, Nathan Pohio, Peter Vangioni and Jenny Harper.
Lara Strongman is the senior curator of the Christchurch Art Gallery, and I talked to her about the re-opening.
Now that the Gallery is open again, what's your feeling as to how people are using and enjoying it?
I'm a little surprised—but very moved—by the deeply emotional response people are having to the re-opening. There have been many people in tears. It's not just that they are seeing the works they've missed over the past five years, it's what it means to them to be seeing the gallery open again.
There have been many unsolicited hugs for Jenny (the Art Gallery director).
I've noticed lots of teenagers coming through, as well as families and international visitors. Wayne Youle's postcard project has people sending messages all round the world to tell people to come and visit, as well as Christchurch people sending them to other family members.
Parents are showing young children works they haven't seen, but which were very familiar to their parents. (There's a half generation of kids who've never visited the gallery, or who were too young at the time of the earthquakes to remember.) There are loads of old favourites on show, but also works that are new to everyone - Unseen and The Newest new world are examples. People are also discovering unexpected connections between works:
I liked the Hotere room where the sounds of the seal breathing in the next room added something unexpected. pic.twitter.com/Nvp5Ai96v5
— Philip Matthews (@secondzeit) January 12, 2016
When the Gallery was closed, you all branched out - blogging, social media, exhibitions in different places and out on the streets, will these things still play a role? How has being closed changed the Gallery?
Now we're open again, we've brought the Outer Spaces projects back into the proximity of the gallery. While we were shut, we went out into the city, and in the process learned a great deal about putting different kinds of art into public spaces. Now we're commissioning new works for unexpected spaces around the gallery building and concourse. We're calling them Other Spaces.
What's coming up?
Local artist Tony de Lautour is painting a new work on the Bunker building out the front of the gallery that will be open for Waitangi weekend. We're also opening our final summer exhibition, Op and Pop. There's a massive interactive work called Tangle on the forecourt, especially for kids and families over the weekend. And I understand there's going to be free gelato again, courtesy of our friends at NZI.
Over this year, our collection shows will be constantly changing. And I'm really looking forward to A Beautiful Hesitation, the survey exhibition by Ngai Tahu artist Fiona Pardington coming up mid year.
What do you think about libraries?
I love libraries! They're my second favourite places, after art galleries. Curators spend a lot of time in libraries, doing research. And I really admire Christchurch City Libraries: the way they're continuously innovative and put people first.
The Gallery's librarian Tim Jones deals with a lot of research enquiries, including some extremely obscure ones. There is sharing of archival information around the world, which helps fill in gaps in understanding. By putting works online, unknown works start to be identified and our knowledge of the collection is made richer and more complex.
You also have another gig, doing tv reviews on Radio New Zealand. What are your picks?
This summer I'm going to do a rewatch of Deadwood (my favourite show). I hear there's a telemovie coming out that will tie up the loose ends.
Season 2 of Catastrophe: it's quite rude but very funny.
And I've been watching Luther from the beginning — I like watching an episode each evening and becoming immersed in the story, as if you're reading a chapter each night. It's a very bookish way of watching telly.
Thanks to Lara, and to the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Read more
Read articles and interviews by Lara on the Christchurch Art Gallery website, including:
- The last five years: An oral history of the Gallery building, 2010-2015.
- Bringing threads together (on her passion for writing and art history, the importance of culture in a post-earthquake community and the contemporary curator.
You can also find works by Lara Strongman in our collection.
Christchurch Art Gallery photos
Find more on our page on art.
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