Photographic Exhibition About Christchurch And Its People

Photographic Exhibition About Christchurch And Its People Uses Re:Start As Temporary Open-Air Gallery

A large scale black and white photographic exhibition in Re:START takes an exuberant and light-hearted look at the way Cantabrians enjoy the summer months in Christchurch. The exhibition, drawn from the Place in Time archive (2000-2012) has been specially curated for Art Beat, a four month programme of art and music facilitated by Arts Voice Christchurch with the support of the Todd Foundation.

Utilising the Re:START container mall as an open-air gallery, a selection of 17 photographic images, entitled Summer in the City, have been placed on the exterior walls of shop containers. Each photograph has been handpicked to correspond with and reflect the shop inside each container.

Since the year 2000, the Place in Time documentary project has been recording the city of Christchurch and a cross section of its people through photography, oral history and documentary writing. The project has now produced an extensive archive including a number of exhibitions, books and educational projects.

Alongside the exhibition an educational programme will be held targeting year seven and eight students. Students will be asked to respond to the work they see in the Summer in the City exhibition by interviewing and photographing retailers and customers in Re:START.

Art History lecturer at the University of Canterbury and Place in Time’s Summer in the City curator, Dr. Barbara Garrie says “the photographic exhibition will function within the structure of the retail environment as opposed to something that sits alongside it. The images of Christchurch people have been chosen to reflect the heart of our city, bringing the enduring voices and laughter of these people back to the city centre.”

For the Summer in the City exhibition Place in Time have designed a free mobile app to guide the audience around the photographs. The app will provide stories and oral narratives about the images as well as information about the projects they come from.

Glenn Busch, Director of Place in Time, says “the Place in Time project has been enormously popular in Christchurch since its inception in 2000. The project achieved record attendances in 2003 with the My Place exhibition at COCA Gallery. We hope that Summer in the City, created by Arts Voice Christchurch for Art Beat, will be just as successful.”

The exhibition is part of the Art Beat programme which has been bringing local music and art into the centre of Christchurch since November 2012. Art Beat finishes at the end of February.

Art Beat Project Facilitator Deborah McCormick, says “the month long Place in Time exhibition is a great way to top off what has been an exciting programme of art and music in Re:START. Art Beat and Arts Voice Christchurch have successfully created opportunities for over 170 local and emerging artists whilst bringing a buzz back into the central city.”

ENDS

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