Wednesday 23 February 2006
Artistic Director and Curator of the 2006 Biennale of Sydney to present lecture series in New Zealand
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery's Monica Brewster Club is pleased to present Artistic Director & Curator of the 15th Biennale of Sydney, Dr Charles Merewether who will conduct his lecture Zones of contact in New
Plymouth and Auckland as a preview to the 2006 Biennale of Sydney.
Since the end of 2004, Dr Merewether has been travelling internationally, visiting 62 cities in 45 countries, as part of
his research for the 15th Biennale of Sydney in 2006. During this time he has attended many international biennale and
triennale events.
The Biennale, held from 8 June to 27 August 2006 at over 15 venues and sites throughout Sydney, will feature artists
from 57 cities, including countries and regions that are rarely represented internationally. The artists selected for
the exhibition work in all forms of the visual arts and are among the boldest and most dynamic practicing worldwide.
Dr Merewether's lecture and the theme of the Biennale Zones of contact is about the spaces which people live in and move
between, places in which people encounter one another and other cultures. 'Zones' refers to temporal dimensions; the
body, everyday life and sense of self, as much as its spatial dimensions; territory, settlement, dwelling and home.
Working through visual and sensory forms of reflection-including painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, fabric and
stitching, photography, video, film, performance, voice and sound-the artists explore local and trans-cultural
encounters with the world. They address the legacy and memories of living within these zones of contact or seek to
define a space in which the viewer may perceive the contours of an aesthetic utopia.
Lectures will take place at Artspace in Auckland on Monday 27 February at 6.30pm and at the Govett-Brewster Art
Gallery's Monica Brewster Club in New Plymouth on Tuesday 28 February at 6.00pm.
ENDS