The Dowse Art Museum: Media Release
A season of import
This year The Dowse Art Museum is presenting a programme of exhibitions that illuminate many important conversations
taking place our contemporary moment.
The second half of 2017 will see The Dowse highlight Fiona Clark’s important photographic series Te iwi o te wahi kore
from its collection; show a new work made specifically for our galleries by respected sculptor Maureen Lander; present a
touring survey of Australian artist Nicholas Mangan’s work, also shown in Melbourne and Berlin; and debut the major
exhibition Gavin Hipkins: The Domain, a survey of 25 years’ work by this leading New Zealand artist.
The Dowse Director Courtney Johnston said, “We are charged with serving our community – this includes resident of and
visitors to Lower Hutt. Our exhibitions show how art grows out of and feeds back into our conversations as communities,
large and small.”
“A visit to The Dowse should be a beautiful, stimulating and surprising visual experience. A visit should also be a
work-out for curious minds. This season we are presenting exhibitions that meaningfully contribute to all sorts of
conversations happening outside our walls: what we draw from and what we do to our natural environment; how language
defines the way we navigate the world; the complex global political and economic networks our lives are lived within.”
“The year will be capped by our large scale survey, Gavin Hipkins: The Domain. This show carries us through summer with
style and substance. Known as a ‘tourist of photography’, in his 25-year career Hipkins has not only explored the vast
formal opportunities photography offers as a medium, but also how social and political ideologies visually shape the
world we inhabit.”
The Dowse’s exhibition programme is underpinned by a commitment to bringing the best of Aotearoa New Zealand’s art to
Lower Hutt and the Wellington region. This season’s shows are sure to challenge, refresh and delight audiences. With
such a selection on offer each visit to The Dowse will be a journey of discovery and exploration.
Exhibition information
He Taonga Te Reo
17 June – 1 October 2017
Māori language is integral to Māori culture, and opens the door to a Māori perspective on the world. Featuring a range
of works from The Dowse’s collection, the exhibition He Taonga Te Reo looks at how language is an expression of
identity, beliefs and values; how it defines our way of navigating the world.