Hawke’s Bay Cultural Trust News September-November 2005

Hawke’s Bay Cultural Trust
Ruawharo Ta-u-rangi

SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER 2005   news

Ans Westra (detail)

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Dear Readers

Welcome to the spring edition of the Hawke’s Bay Cultural Trust News.

At the Museum the roof over two galleries is being replaced and new drainage has been installed. We appreciate Napier City Council’s support. This will solve our leaky roof problem and prevent flooding of the basement.

Visitor numbers for the 2004/05 year have increased at the Museum by 21% and at the Exhibition Centre by 26%.

We are awaiting agreement between Napier City Council and Hastings District Council over details of the redevelopment before further progress can be made. When funding is made available for the design work, we will proceed with the extensions to the Museum.

We hope you enjoy the spring exhibition programme, movies and events at Hawke’s Bay Cultural Trust’s facilities.

Roger Mulvay
CHIEF EXECUTIVE

THE FARADAY CENTRE

Faraday Street, Napier. Open Mon, Wed, Fri 9am to 11.30am.
Last Saturday of every month 9am to 4pm. $5 entry, accompanied children free (max. 4) Groups by arrangement. Phone 844 7468

BEHIND THE SEASONS September
The science behind the weather. Discover how physical phenomena affect the weather.

METAL MANIA October/November
How metals have been made and used to enhance people’s lives. Students who attend will learn to identify the metals we use every day and to understand why they are so useful.

Education bookings – phone Trish 835 7781 extn. 727

COLLECTIONS

FOR THE RECORD

The collection department has taken a further step towards providing increased access to the collections held in our care.

The fine arts collection totals over 1,400 individual works. Members of the collection team have been taking photographs, preparing condition reports and conservation assessments, writing object labels and entering the information onto the Trust’s database.

While staff continue to do their ‘stocktake’, museum visitors will be treated to glimpses of the Trust’s fine arts collection in displays under the banner For the Record. These ‘stocktake shows’ will be slotted into the regular exhibition programme, with the first planned for mid-September to mid-October, depending on the completion of the roof replacement.

Collection staff will be present in the Malden Gallery while the art works are on display to explain the programme to visitors and encourage feedback on its effectiveness. It is envisaged that For the Record will result in a greater public awareness of the treasures we hold in store.

Once the information is collated onto the database it will [be] made available to the public via the Trust’s website and our forthcoming Titiromai – Look at Us project. As detailed in our last newsletter, this project gives wider public access to the collections through computer information kiosks at the Museum and local off-site locations.

Daniel McKnight
COLLECTIONS MANAGER

FRIENDS

It is a busy time for the Friends’ Committee. Our membership has grown to over 1,700 and we look forward to greeting some new volunteers to participate in our forthcoming events.

Our annual children’s workshop was held at the Exhibition Centre during the July school holidays. Using the Nancy Crow exhibition of quilts as inspiration, weaver Troy Gardiner led three days of exciting activities. Many budding young artists participated.

The Collectors’ Group meets on the third Wednesday of each month at the Museum at 2:15pm. Guest speakers with a variety of interests are invited to present topics ranging from the running of an antique shop to collections of vintage buttons. Come along and see for yourself!

The committee is busy organising ARTrage 2005 which is opening on 21 October in the Founders’ Room at the Hawke’s Bay Museum; an intimate setting for the auction and sale of donated art works. This year there will be a variety of sizes (though still small scale) of works for sale. Be there to add to your collection and introduce a friend to this ARTrageous event! Canvases are still available at reception at the Museum and Exhibition Centre for entries.

And finally, our big event of the year is ‘Il Pranzo Rustico’ – Rustic Italian Lunch on Sunday 13 November at Te Awa Winery. Originally planned as a warm weather picnic, we decided to have the event coincide with the Italian Film Festival at the Century Cinema in November. There are only 200 tickets available for this three-course Rustic Italian Lunch at $60 per person so be in quick! This is a fundraiser for the Trust’s redevelopment project.

A huge thank you to all the Friends who have volunteered their help over the past few months. Whether your efforts have been in providing hospitality at exhibition openings or behind the scenes, your contributions are greatly appreciated!

For those of you interested in getting involved in either of our November events, please contact the Friends’ Secretary, Jenny Vierkotten, phone 844 0677.

Leslie Falls
PRESIDENT

Photo captions –

Field 2 by Clare Plug, this year’s ASB Bank Supreme Award & Textile Award winner, Esk River Hawke’s Bay Review

Richard McWhannel, View of Auckland 1980

Mosaic tile by Helen Bodycomb

HAWKE’S BAY museum
P O Box 248, 9 Herschell Street, Napier.   Ph 06 835 7781   Fax 06 835 9249
Email [email protected]   Open daily 9.00am – 5.00pm
[www].hawkesbaymuseum.co.nz

IN THE BEAUX ARTS TRADITION

William Gummer – Architect
23 September – 26 February

The Beaux Arts tradition in architecture, with its emphasis on elegance and classical simplicity, was introduced to Hawke’s Bay by architect

William Gummer (1884 – 1966). Gummer, arguably New Zealand’s greatest exponent of the movement, designed four homes in Hawke’s Bay, three of them for members of the Chambers family. Tauroa was commissioned by Mason Chambers in 1916, followed by Arden in 1926 and Te Mata in 1936 for brothers Maurice and Bernard Chambers respectively. The fourth house, Belmount commissioned by William van Asch, has been described as the most austere and experimental of Gummer’s Hawke’s Bay commissions.

Design historian, Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins, researched Gummer’s work for this exhibition which will coincide with the conferences of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust to be held in Napier during September-October.

THE PERSISTENT IMAGE

Tracing history through the photographic process
21 October – 15 January

The invention of photography dates back to the early decades of the nineteenth century and relates to New Zealand’s colonial past. In this collection-based exhibition, photographic history begins in 1858 with the daguerreotype portrait of pioneer-missionary Reverend William Colenso. This portrait, taken by itinerant photographer John Nicol Crombie during a visit to Napier, is considered one of the earliest examples of daguerreotype in New Zealand. Colenso’s image (printed on a glass slide with an alchemic mix of chemicals) begins the track through time, which concludes with the digital technology of today.

IN THE DRAWER – Kirsten Haydon

7 October – 13 November

This installation of exquisitely-crafted jewellery by Kirsten Haydon, a New Zealand artist now resident in Australia, is based on the recollections of her grandfather’s war-time experiences and her own memories of her beloved Poppa. In the Drawer gives permanence to intangible memories and recognises the importance of respecting and continuing the stories of our elders.

My hope through this exhibition, explains Kirsten, is to make people more aware of the fragility of the elderly and the importance of the stories they have to tell.

IT’S IN THE BAG

Bags from the collection
Now showing

It’s in the Bag draws on the Museum’s applied arts collection to explore the evolution of the bag in Western society. The track through time begins with an eighteenth century vellum pouch and concludes with a designer backpack, illustrating how leisure and street wear have succeeded in directing fashion trends of today.

Photo captions –

William Gummer, Tauroa Havelock North 1923

Replacing faulty lamps on the illuminated arches in Emerson St, Napier, represents a chore on the grand scale for Municipal Electricity staff. Messrs J. Martin and J. Jobbins are seen preparing to hoist a section of the 400 lamps needed for each arch into place. 7 July 1965.
Daily Telegraph photograph.

Kirsten Haydon, Woven Stories (detail)
Wreaths are woven from leaves and objects but what the viewer brings to the wreath are snapshots and stories of a moment now past.

Installation of In the Drawer, Auckland War Memorial Museum 2004

William Gummer, Urbis Porta c1930
Background: William Gummer, NZ Government State Fire Insurance building, Wellington 1936

HAWKE’S BAY Exhibition Centre
201 Eastbourne Street East, Hastings. Ph 06 876 2077 Fax 06 878 4110
Email [email protected] Open daily 10am – 4.30pm

HANDBOEK: Ans Westra – Photographs

7 October – 27 November

Ans Westra, born in Holland and resident in New Zealand since 1957, is one of our best-known and most-debated documentary photographers. Westra has recorded ordinary New Zealanders ‘just being themselves’ at work and play.

Her photographs also offer insight into the social and political issues which have captured the nation’s attention over the past forty years. Included here are many iconic images detailing protest from the Vietnam marches to the Springbok riots of 1981. Also represented in the exhibition is her unique contribution to controversial publications such as Down under the plum tree, Tim Shadbolt’s Bullshit and Jellybeans and the banned school journal, Washday at the Pa.

Handboek: Ans Westra is based on the Alexander Turnbull Library collections and has been organised by BWX (Blair Wakefield Exhibitions) in association with the National Library Gallery.

Photo captions –

Ans Westra, Main Street, Wairoa 1964
Ans Westra, Students performing, Whatatutu Primary School, near Wairoa 1963

KAMAKA

The Ceramics of Bruce and Estelle Martin

16 September – 6 November

Bruce and Estelle Martin’s contribution to New Zealand’s ceramic history spans 40 years. Their interest began with the influence of the English studio pottery tradition which already had strong Japanese links. It was then refocused following a trip to Japan in 1978 when they were introduced to the intricacies of anagama firing. The Martins gained recognition for their disciplined yet innovative interpretation of traditional Japanese anagama ware.

In this retrospective survey, curator Peter Shaw examines the work of Bruce and Estelle Martin against a climate of political change in post-World War II New Zealand.

Photo captions –

Estelle Martin, Hidden Treasures 1988
Bruce Martin, Under the Willows, 1990
Estelle Martin in Japan, 1978
Bruce Martin, glazed bottle, 1976
Bruce Martin, tea bowls, 1987-88

PARALLEL PRACTICES

Biculturalism in Contemporary Art

to 18 September

What kind of meanings does the term ‘biculturalism’ have in contemporary art? This topic is addressed by curator Damian Skinner in an exhibition which investigates aspects of the current lively exchange between Maori and Pakeha artists.

Photo captions –

Shane Cotton RA-UK 2003
Lisa Reihana Hinepohurangi 2002

CENTURY CINEMA
MARINE PARADE

CENTURY CINEMA   DOLBY DIGITAL
P O Box 248, 65 Marine Parade, Napier
Ph 06 835 9248 Fax 06 835 9249
Email [email protected]   [www].centurycinema.co.nz

Following on from the success of the Telecom 29th Napier International Film Festival (17 August to 4 September), the 10th Italian Film Festival opens on Wednesday 16 November. Now in its fifth year in Napier, it has expanded to two weeks and runs daily until 30 November. Illustrated programme booklets will be available from the beginning of November.

Between the two festivals we will be showing a variety of films including ENDURING LOVE from the UK featuring Daniel Craig and Samantha Morton, based on the novel by Ian McEwan; DOWNFALL from Germany, an Academy Award nominee this year for Best Foreign Language Film, with Hitler’s last days portrayed in a stunning performance by Bruno Ganz; a wry comedy from the Czech Republic – AUTUMN SPRING; the epic drama LUTHER which details the struggles of Martin Luther, the 16th century priest who led the Christian Reformation. Joseph Fiennes plays Luther, supported by Bruno Granz, Sir Peter Ustinov (in his final performance) and Alfred Molina. Screening dates are yet to be confirmed for these films.

SCREENING DETAILS

[www].centurycinema.co.nz with links to each film’s official web site Hawke’s Bay Today, Napier Mail, Napier Courier and Village Press Century Cinema Programme

THEATRE EVENTS

All events are in the Century Theatre unless otherwise indicated

SEPTEMBER

Fri 9 at 7.30pm   Young Musician of the Year 2005
Sat 10 at 8pm   HB Youth Theatre presents ‘Confessions of a Chocoholic’
Sun 11 at 3pm   Chamber Music NZ presents Michael Houstoun [Houston]
Mon 19 at 2pm   Recollections, Founders’ Room
Tue 20 at 2pm   Collectors’ Group meeting, Founders’ Room
Sun 25-Tues 27 Society of Architectural Historians Australia & NZ Conference

OCTOBER

Tue 4 & Wed 5   NZ Historic Places Trust conference
Mon 10 at 7.30pm   ‘Strange Habyts’ Live Comedy Theatre
Wed 12 at 2pm   Collectors’ Group meeting, Founders’ Room
Thur 13 at 8pm   Chamber Music NZ presents Xyrion Trio
Mon 17 at 2pm   Recollections, Founders’ Room
Wed 19 at 2pm   Collectors’ Group meeting, Founders’ Room
Thur 20 at 8pm   HB Jazz Club presents Holly Hoffman & Mike Wofford Trio, from USA
Sun 23 at 1.30pm   Century Theatre Music Group

NOVEMBER

Sun 13 at 4pm   Inst. of Registered Music Teachers presents an Instrumental Concert
Sun 20 at 1.30pm   Century Theatre Music Group

Strange Habyts!

Two hours of ad-libbing and non-stop side-splitting comedy where THEATRE SPORTS meets WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? meets MONTY PYTHON!

Monday 10 October at 7.30pm
Tickets $15 adults/$10 students
Fundraising for a trip to perform at the Edinburgh Festival 2006

Photo caption – Friends’ committee members serving wine at the opening of the Esk River Hawke’s Bay Review.
Background: Martin Poppelwell painting

MAJOR STAKEHOLDERS
CITY OF NAPIER
HASTINGS DISTRICT COUNCIL

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Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
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Eastern & Central COMMUNITY TRUST
Helping fund a better community
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LAWYERS
Phone: 06 835 3229 * Fax: 06 835 1430 * [www].wtr.co.nz
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ESK RIVER
Friends of Hawke’s Bay Cultural Trust