Since opening its doors in mid-February, TheNewDowse has played host to more than 100,000 people - twice the number of visitors in an equivalent period prior to the recent $6.25 million dollar re-vamp by Athfield Architects.

TheNewDowse Director Tim Walker credits the exhibition Becoming King Kong with keeping the visitor numbers rolling in recent weeks. Since opening its doors in mid-February, TheNewDowse has played host to more than 100,000 people - twice the number of visitors in an equivalent period prior to the recent $6.25 million dollar re-vamp by Athfield Architects.

TheNewDowse Director Tim Walker credits the exhibition Becoming King Kong with keeping the visitor numbers rolling in recent weeks."Since the opening of Becoming King Kong in late June we have had over 35,000 people through the doors. Over the school holiday the galleries were absolutely humming with people taking advantage of this rare, free opportunity to see the marquettes, models and digital wizardry that went into making King Kong."

And the numbers are unlikely to let up, with two major Europe fashion exhibitions arriving in October.

"One exhibition from London's Design Museum features 32 of Philip Treacy's extraordinary hats, made for the late Isabella Blow. This is accompanied by an exhibition of 180 fashion photographs by the great German photographers, ranging from Christian Dior's post WW2 collections to Issey Miyake's avant-garde designs," says Walker.

TheNewDowse will be the only New Zealand venue for both exhibitions.

"The exhibitions are a coup in themselves but we're particularly excited by the people coming with the show, including Philip Treacy. He's a huge figure in the fashion world," says Walker.

Walker says before the re-vamp, The Dowse's visitor numbers averaged around 95,000 a year. He attributes TheNewDowse's popularity to the fact that its diverse and edgy exhibitions appeal to a wide variety of people.

The current line-up is a case in point, he says. As well as Becoming King Kong, TheNewDowse is featuring an exhibition by Wellington-based artist Regan Gentry (Of Gorse Of Course), a ceramic re-creation of the album cover for Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by Jim Cooper and a craft design exhibition that showcases over 200 pieces.

2/8/07

Image: TheNewDowse © Simon Devitt