18th July 2018

Next year’s biennial Sculpture on the Gulf will take place from 1 to 24 March 2019.

The premier event on Auckland’s arts and culture calendar will take place outside the peak season, to relieve pressure on the Island’s transportation and infrastructure. While the majority of works will still be located on the Matiatia walkway, the event footprint will be extended to include works in the Artworks precinct and Alison Park, thus ensuring visitors experience the vibrancy of Oneroa Village. The small sculpture exhibition will be showcased at the Waiheke Community Art Gallery.

Announcing these changes today, Sculpture on the Gulf chair Caroline Forsyth said that the change in date will assist key sponsor Fullers to accommodate visitor traffic outside the peak January holiday period. ATEED, Auckland Council’s tourism and event marketing Council Controlled Organisation, has welcomed the date change as contributing to its goal of extending Auckland’s summer visitor season with first-class arts and culture events. They too are supporters of the event.

“In many ways we have been victims of our own success,” Ms Forsyth said. “The event has grown significantly from the 11,000 visitors who attended the first event in 2003 to 45,000 in 2017. This has meant increased complexity and costs to mount the event”.

Ms Forsyth said the Board is conscious of the positive and negative impacts of the event on the Waiheke community and believes it has struck the right balance with the change in dates and an expanded outdoor sculpture experience. There will be less focus on entertainment and hospitality at Matiatia, relieving pressure on this sensitive location.

“We are committed to providing a quality visitor experience and are confident the change in date and expanded walkway experience will mean less pressure on the Island during the peak holiday season and at the same provide tangible benefits for both the Waiheke Art Gallery, Oneroa and Waiheke as a whole.

Twenty five works from New Zealand’s eminent artists have been chosen by the Board’s curatorial panel to present their works on the expanded walkway.

The Sculpture on the Gulf company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Waiheke Community Art Gallery.

ends

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