UC student art exhibition returns to Arts Centre

UC student art exhibition returns to Arts Centre

University of Canterbury senior sculpture students from the Ilam School of Fine Arts will display their artworks at the Christchurch Arts Centre for the first time since the Canterbury quakes, in a new exhibition this week.

Organised by third and fourth year UC Fine Arts students, the Sculpture department’s 25th annual exhibition, Whakahoki ki ō maunga – Return to your ancestral mountain, will be on display in the Arts Centre’s north and south quads from 8 - 11 June. Featuring a diverse range of artworks from 12 artists, the exhibition’s theme is about the return of creative arts to the Arts Centre.

The University’s campus until the early 1970s, the Arts Centre was home to a variety of gallery spaces and arts-related activities until the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010-11. Since then, the buildings have undergone extensive repair and refurbishment, and the central hub for arts and entertainment has been progressively re-emerging.

In bringing together Whakahoki, the individual artists have considered the idea of the return of creative arts to the Arts Centre in various ways. They have made work reflecting on Māori, colonial, personal and scientific histories, the architecture, the landscape and memories.

Fourth year UC sculpture student Katie Russell explains that it’s not just old buildings that are returning to the city.

“It’s also the return of our community, our engagement with our heritage and our creative arts scene. These physical reappearances bring with them an energy that used to be here before,” she says.

“Whakahoki is about capturing this re-engagement with our city and the return of a significant arts and cultural space.”

Exhibition events and performances will range from a karanga and Arts Centre tour, to an opportunity to have artwork made in exchange for a story. Works include cultural responses, poetic interpretations and invitations to look further and experience Whakahoki in diverse ways.

The Whakahoki artists are: Maia Abraham, Monique Berard, Caitlin Clarke, Alex Driscoll, Charlotte Filipov, Giselle Fortune, Phoebe Hinchliff, Donna-Marie Patterson, Katie Russell, Hannah Shadwell, Winnie Whyte, and Georgia Willetts.

Whakahoki ki ō maunga – Return to your ancestral mountain, Opening: Wednesday 7 June, 2pm - 4.30pm, exhibition runs 8 - 11 June, open 10am – 4.30pm, in north and south quads, Arts Centre, Christchurch.

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