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