Record of remarkable NZ artistic collaboration to Turnbull

Media Release from the National Library of New Zealand
10 November, 2012

Record of remarkable NZ artistic collaboration comes to the Turnbull

An album of drawings that records one of the most unique artistic collaborations in the history of New Zealand has been gifted to the Alexander Turnbull by sculptor Tanya Ashken, the wife of the late artist John Drawbridge.

The album of 45 beautiful watercolour and pastel drawings contains Drawbridge’s storyboard for a planned 1949 film ‘The Ascent of Aspiring’.

“Intended as a ‘cinematic poem’ the film had a remarkable group working on it, with noted cinematographer Brian Brake as the film-maker, poet James K Baxter as scriptwriter, Douglas Lilburn as composer and 18-year-old John Drawbridge as artist,” says Marian Minson, Turnbull Curator Drawings Paintings and Prints.

Assembled before filming, the storyboard was designed to secure financing for the film. It shows three young climbers progressing up the perilous mountain, and the surrounding landscapes, including views below and above the bush-line, the glaciers and summit of the mountain.

The film was never completed because of bad weather over the summer of 1949, and the death of one of the climbers the following year.

“The Turnbull is delighted to receive these works,” says Chris Szekely, the Turnbull Chief Librarian. “They relate to a remarkable project involving some of New Zealand's most iconic cultural luminaries. It is a most generous donation.”

Ashken's donation is timed to coincide with the establishment of Massey University’s College of Creative Arts’ John Drawbridge Ambassadorial Scholarship. The Scholarship will assist Massey students registered in international exchange programmes.

The Alexander Turnbull Library is part of the National Library of New Zealand. The Library building in Molesworth Street, Wellington, is due to reopen to the public on 27 November after a major refurbishment.

Note: A function to establish the fellowship is being held at Massey University, Wellington on Monday 12 November at 6.30 p.m., with a charity auction including works by John Drawbridge and photographs by Brian Brake, a piano recital of music by Douglas Lilburn, and a reading of James K Baxter’s poetry. The centrepiece of the function will be a screening of the 2001 documentary about the project.

ENDS

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