Author Tessa Duder and multi-media artist Ronnie van Hout have been announced as the recipients of the 2007-08 Artists To Antarctica programme, a joint initiative between Antarctica New Zealand and Creative New Zealand.

Both Auckland-based Duder and Melbourne-based van Hout expressed long-held ambitions to travel to Antarctica, which will be realised in October or November this year.Author Tessa Duder and multi-media artist Ronnie van Hout have been announced as the recipients of the 2007-08 Artists To Antarctica programme, a joint initiative between Antarctica New Zealand and Creative New Zealand.

Both Auckland-based Duder and Melbourne-based van Hout expressed long-held ambitions to travel to Antarctica, which will be realised in October or November this year.Antarctica New Zealand CEO Lou Sanson said the aim of the programme is to encourage artists to explore Antarctica through their work, thus increasing New Zealanders' understanding of Antarctica's value and global importance. It is open to artists who are either prominent in their field or highly regarded emerging artists.

"This scheme gives New Zealand artists a rare opportunity to explore the vast expanse that is Antarctica, and enjoy the experience of living at Scott Base," Sanson said. "We hope it refreshes their spirit and helps them gain plenty of insight and inspiration to produce some unique creative works."

Creative New Zealand Chief Executive Stephen Wainwright said the Artists to Antarctica programme brings together art, science and the natural environment to encourage the creation of innovative New Zealand art.

"The residency allows New Zealanders to discover the amazing Antarctic environment through the eyes of our artists," Stephen Wainwright said.

Tessa Duder

Duder's novels for young readers include Night Race to Kawau, Jellybean, the Alex quartet, Mercury Beach, Hot Mail and the Tiggie Tompson trilogy.

She has won three New Zealand Children's Book of the Year awards, was awarded an OBE in 1994 and the Margaret Mahy Medal for a distinguished contribution to children's literature in 1996.

Duder said her generation grew up "devouring" books and films about the heroic Antarctic explorers.

"But I never imagined there'd be any opportunity to experience for myself something of the icescape that produced their fabled stories and images. I hope that my proposed two books, a novel and a photographic book, will be enjoyed by young people as intrigued by Antarctica as I've long been, and will perhaps increase their awareness and understanding of its importance to New Zealand."

Ronnie van Hout

Born in Christchurch, van Hout won a Laureate Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation in 2005 and has exhibited widely in New Zealand and Australia.

"Antarctica as a frontier fascinates me," van Hout said. "It is one of the areas of our earth that resembles most closely an alien environment. The alien is a strong feature of my art, and I was interested to see how many early depictions of Antarctica have an alien presence at their heart. My aim is to examine the human in an extreme alien environment."