'Property is Theft!' & 'Kaitani' at The Physics Room

Property is Theft! Reuben Moss

Exhibition Preview: Friday 24 November at 5.30pm

Exhibition Runs: Saturday 25 November – Sunday 24 December 2017

Artist talk: Saturday 25 November at 2pm

Property is theft! is the second exhibition by Portugal-based New Zealand artist Reuben Moss at The Physics Room in 2017. This exhibition is a continuation Moss’ interest in the contemporary urban environment as a space controlled by pulsing and unequal flows of capital and labour.

In contrast to Monuments and other reminders, Moss’ previous exhibition at The Physics Room, which was a ‘remote’ mini-survey of a decade of his work, Moss has travelled to Ōtautahi, Christchurch to occupy The Physics Room residency for six weeks. During this time he has conducted research into the current state of the Christchurch re-build. The results of this research will manifest in two new installations informed by a unique post-crisis architectural vernacular and a property development cycle that favours homogenisation.

Working with found materials, Property is Theft! explores the everyday visual signs indicative of the hiccups and failures of large scale urban planning and rejuvenation that characterise the Central Business District of Ōtautahi, Christchurch in 2017.

Reuben Moss (1985) lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal. Recent exhibitions include, The Hive Hums With Many Minds Part Two, Te Tuhi (group) 2016, Erre que Erre que Erre que Erre, C/ Encarnación González 8, Madrid (group), 2016, Arte y Propaganda Libertaria, C/ Encarnación González 8, Madrid (group) 2015, 5x5 Catello, Espai d'art contemporani de Castelló (group), 2013, Arte Útil 1, Off Limits, Madrid, (group), 2011.

Kaitani Curated by Ema Tavola

Featuring the University of Canterbury Fijian Students Association and new work by Kulimoe’anga Stone Maka

Exhibition Preview: Friday 24 November at 5.30pm

Exhibition Runs: Saturday 25 November – Sunday 24 December 2017

Saturday 25 November at 1pm: Talanoa with Ema Tavola & Kulimoe’anga Stone Maka

In Fijian, kaitani refers to one who is from outside, or from another community, province or country.

As the culmination of curator, Ema Tavola’s residency with the University of Canterbury Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, Kaitani interrogates the presence of Pacific art in the contemporary gallery space.

Accompanying her curatorial manifesto, a short video made during her residency reflects Tavola’s long-held interest in the creation of safe space and genuine engagement of Pacific peoples, their ways of seeing and being, art histories and cultural narratives.

In the work of East Christchurch-based painter, Kulimoe’anga Stone Maka, multisensory memories of Tonga are embedded in his mark making technique. In recent paintings, paraffin lamp smoke stained canvas captures the ephemerality of time and space in brooding, galactic landscapes of blackness and whiteness and everything in between.

The exhibition’s soundscape pays homage to the unifying act of singing as a group. The Fijian song, Vanua Domoni was sung on the occasion of this year’s Fiji Independence Day by students and community members at the University of Canterbury. The song lyrics reflect a deep love and longing for Fiji, and evokes the pride and identity of Fijians both at home and away.

Tavola’s curatorial manifesto has been written as a result of her residency and copies will be available for the duration of the exhibition. She will discuss her manifesto in the context of the exhibition, along with exhibiting artist Kulimoe’anga Stone Maka in a talanoa / conversation at 1pm, Saturday 25 November.

Ema Tavola has lived and worked within the creative sector in South Auckland, New Zealand since 2002. Her research is practice-based and concerned with curating as a mechanism for social inclusion, centralising Pacific ways of seeing, and exhibition making as a mode of decolonisation. She was the founding curator of Fresh Gallery Ōtara, where she produced satellite projects for ARTSPACE, Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, in addition to advising on exhibitions for Auckland Art Gallery and Auckland Museum. She was the first curator awarded the CNZ Arts Pasifika Award for Contemporary Art (2012) and is the current Artist in Residence with the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies Residency at the University of Canterbury.

Kulimoe’anga ‘Stone’ Maka was born in Patangata, Tonga and migrated to New Zealand in 1997 aged 26. During his studies at Manukau School of Visual Arts, he began exploring traditional Tongan mark making techniques using smoke as a medium. His ambitious and experimental painting practice has evolved into a unique form of Tongan abstraction earning him numerous accolades and acquisitions in both public and private collections. Whilst balancing the demands of parenting a young family, Maka has been working from his East Christchurch-based studio for the past decade.

The University of Canterbury (UC) Fijian Students Association was officially affiliated in 2017. There are just over 80 students of Fijian heritage currently studying at the University.

Opening soon:

Property is Theft, Reuben Moss & Kaitani, curated by Ema Tavola. Featuring the University of Canterbury Fijian Students Association and new work by Kulimoe’anga Stone Maka

Exhibition Preview: Friday 24 November at 5.30pm

Exhibition Runs: Saturday 25 November – Sunday 24 December 2017

The Physics Room is generously supported by Creative NZ, Christchurch City Council, Three Boys Brewery, Signtech, Resene Paints, and The Crater Rim

ENDS

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