Art Students Set Public Space on Fire!

Art Students Set Public Space on Fire with Mura o te ahi Exhibition

Local art students will experience life as professional artists this July, when their work is exhibited in a prestigious public art gallery. The exhibition is part of an annual arts partnership between Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts and Manukau Institute of Technology’s School of Visual Arts (MSVA).

For the second year running, the two establishments are presenting the exciting exhibition project, Mura o te ahi / The heat of the fire. The exhibition consists of four short-term projects developed by the students, which will be exhibited at Te Tuhi’s Project Space from 10 July – 29 August, 2010.

The project will give the MSVA students a taste of life as a professional artist allowing them to occupy a public space and showcase their work.

The introduction of a competitive element to this year’s selection process has made the experience even more of a challenge for the students. Third and fourth year Bachelor of Visual Arts students were invited to submit exhibition proposals. Ten proposals were pre-selected and put forward for consideration with the final four being selected by Te Tuhi, based on those projects which best suit the Centre’s project space.

Supported by their lecturers and Te Tuhi’s Curator Stephen Cleland, the students have taken a hands-on approach to the exhibition project and will be responsible for installing and de-installing their own work. The highlight of the project is the public exhibition of the student’s work in one of Auckland’s highly regarded contemporary art galleries.

Stephen Cleland says that the collaboration was born out of a desire to build on the long-standing relationship between Te Tuhi and MSVA.

“We were keen to take our relationship with MSVA to the next stage by giving these students a platform to showcase their work as professionals,” says Stephen. “The exhibition is themed Mura o te ahi / The heat of the fire because this represents the passion, enthusiasm and fire of the students involved”.

MSVA lecturer and artist Dion Hitchens says, “This as an opportunity to assist students in presenting their work to a wide public audience in a prestigious venue and a chance for them to learn essential professional skills.”

Fellow MSVA lecturer and artist Bill Riley adds: “This is a public gallery experience that our students can truly learn from. We want them to appreciate the hard work involved in organising and preparing for a public exhibition and hope the experience will teach them a range of skills in preparation for their careers as professional artists.”

The partnership places emphasis on the students experimenting with ideas and extending their artistic practices. It draws on the energy and fire of students and staff at both institutions and their commitment to showcasing student artists.

During the project the students have benefited from extensive mentoring by MSVA lecturers and Te Tuhi’s Curator. This has helped them develop their ideas into strong projects for the gallery. Throughout the process they have experienced the challenges of exhibiting a public setting as well as additional ways of understanding their own artistic vision. This extends the students’ learning space into the gallery itself.

To complement the student’s learning a series of open discussions will be held in the gallery so that the students can review their experience. Members of the public are welcome to attend and participate in these events.

The four projects that make up Mura o te ahi provide an opportunity to see exciting new work by a diverse group of students from MSVA:

Saturday 10 – Sunday 18 July: Kamanee Naidoo
Public discussion: Wednesday 14 July, 2pm

Saturday 24 July – Sunday 1 August: Sharlene Forde, Jessamyn Gemming, Amy Potenger
Public discussion: Wednesday 28 July, 2pm

Saturday 7 – Sunday 15 August: Laura Robertson
Public discussion: Wednesday 11 August, 2pm

Saturday 21 – Sunday 29 August: Paula Thornborrow
Public discussion: Wednesday 25 August, 2pm

Further information on the Mura o te ahi exhibition can be found on-line at www.tetuhi.org.nz .

ENDS

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