Artweek Auckland is owned and presented by the New Zealand Contemporary Art Trust, a charitable trust established in 2005 with the objective of creating opportunities for artists, promoting the visual arts industry, and facilitating greater public access to and engagement with the visual arts community.
Artweek Auckland is owned and presented by the New Zealand Contemporary Art Trust, a charitable trust established in 2005 with the objective of creating opportunities for artists, promoting the visual arts industry, and facilitating greater public access to and engagement with the visual arts community.
The 2016 Artweek Auckland festival presents the, work of over 1000 artists, in more than 100 venues, over 10 days. Ponsonby and K'Road come alive with a focus on our talented creative arts community for the week of 8-16 October.
Some of the Ponsonby highlights include:
Ponsonby Portals find amazing pieces of interactive 3D pavement art created by local artists ChalkFX along the Ponsonby strip. Watch artist Miles Harty painting live at the Poi Room. Acclaimed artist and musician Reg Mombassa aka Chris Doherty, launches his book the Landscapes of Reg Mombassa, along with his exhibition Antipodean Scenery: Views from the eyes of a car at Whitespace on Crummer Road. Ponsonby Central is buzzing with activity from Philip Stokes whose magical technique of manipulating hot glass results in mesmerizing objects which must be seen firsthand to fully appreciate. Take a nostalgic trip through Auckland with paintings by SamRB or head into the Sapphire Room at Ponsonby Central for an impressive group exhibition from the Colours Creative Group.
Hannah Jensen's latest exhibition View Point takes us on a journey through the New Zealand landscape at Endemic World. Local writer and artist ZR Southcombe is bringing some much-loved fairy tales to life - but she needs your help! Escape the hustle and bustle this Artweek and pop in to the Dorothy Butler Children’s Bookshop for some colouring fun. The extremely popular The Great Mugging returns for another year, seeing potters trade their handmade mugs for Ponsonby Road passersby takeaway cups, questioning the usage of disposable and mass-produced cups. Christchurch based artist Robin Neate will exhibit at Melanie Roger Gallery whilst Alexis Neal weaves together past and present at FHE Galleries.
K'Road presents an extraordinary array of creative energy with exhibitions as diverse as Paper Potions at Inky Palms, locally made textile objects and jewellery at TÜR, Shane Cotton at Michael Lett, sounds of jungles meet those of death-metal with Spanish artist Francisco Lopez at the Audio Foundation and Oscar Perry offers commentary on the political and cultural legacy of late modernism with Essential Oils at Bowerbank Ninow plus much, much more.
On Electric Night explore the K'Road galleries on a free electric-bike tour provided by Auckland Transport or take a self guided stroll with galleries open until 9pm and entertainment along the way.
This year the Langham Speaker series is a free public talk by Linda Tyler. Since 2006, Linda Tyler has been the Director of the Centre for Art Studies at the University of Auckland. Linda presents a robust conversation about art fairs, the marketing of art and the rise of the contemporary curator. Another great opportunity to learn about the business of art and collecting is Collecting Contemporary, a free event at Tim Melville Gallery, where gallery dealers Tim Melville along with Emma Fox from Fox Jensen Gallery offer tips of how to collect art.
You can also experience all these and much more of the brilliant art Ponsonby and K'Road has to offer with both walking and cycling tours. Dates for performances, tours and talks vary and some booking is required, please visit www.artweekauckland.co.nz for a full online programme of events or pick up a printed programme from any participating gallery.