The doors may still be closed to the public, but plenty of work is underway inside Christchurch Art Gallery to bring art to the people of Christchurch.
The doors may still be closed to the public, but plenty of work is underway inside Christchurch Art Gallery to bring art to the people of Christchurch.
Although the Gallery had originally hoped to reopen in July, the need to continue its role as a base for the planning and coordination of Christchurch’s rebuild means that reopening is still some time away. “It’s a long time for Christchurch to be without a gallery that plays such a pivotal role in the culture and heart of the city,” says Blair Jackson, Acting Gallery Director.
“However, we’re using this enforced downtime to look hard at what services we can continue to offer, and how we can operate as a ‘gallery without walls’.”
The Gallery is currently being used by staff from Civil Defence, Christchurch City Council and the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. Once they move out, the nearby gallery apartments will be demolished and earthquake remediation work in the Gallery itself can be completed. It’s a complex chain of events, but necessary before Christchurch Art Gallery staff can reopen their doors to the people of Christchurch and visitors to our city.
But while this happens, Gallery staff are devising means to continue to provide the people of Christchurch with their cultural fix. These include expanding the outer spaces programme, with works including a new billboard for the Worcester Street façade and a new mural on one of the Gallery’s most prominent exhibition spaces – the car park bunker on the forecourt. Local artist Julia Morrison is working on a new design for this space, which will be transformed in early July.
The Gallery’s public programmes team is working on a new series of lunchtime talks, which they hope to get underway as soon as a venue is confirmed, and the education officer is travelling throughout Canterbury with a car full of art materials, taking outreach lessons to school children.
Changes currently being developed for the Gallery’s award-winning website include the creation of an improved online exhibition feature, which will allow the public to curate, save and share their own exhibitions with the Gallery’s collection. The Gallery’s post-quake blog, Bunker Notes, is up and running; and a mobile-web version of the site for smartphone users will bring the Gallery’s tours, audio and video content to the fore.
This weekend the Gallery Shop will be open to the public for the first time since the February earthquake. The shop will celebrate its re-opening (10am to 4pm this Saturday and Sunday only at this stage) with a massive book, card and t-shirt sale, with many items available at cost price. New stock lines will also be available. Entrance to the shop will be via the Worcester Boulevard door.
Another gallery initiative sees 19 local artists busy preparing works to be included in an innovative and dynamic survey entitled Rolling Maul which will kick off as soon as the gallery can open its doors.
“The Rolling Maul concept reflects the Gallery’s awareness of how the Christchurch earthquakes have affected, and continue to affect, local artists. Many inner-city studios have been demolished or made inaccessible, art works destroyed and the number of exhibition venues drastically diminished. Over the coming months, it will be a real challenge for those artists who can make work to get it seen. That situation has an obvious impact on artists, and also on art viewers – and Rolling Maul is designed to counter both,” says Blair Jackson.
“We want to send out a clear message – we are here, and we are still putting art, artists and our audience at the heart of what we do,” says Blair Jackson. “Temporarily down, but far from out.”
More details about the Gallery’s activities will be available on the website (http://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/) as developments occur.
Media Release: Christchurch City Council