UC Arts’ opening week draws crowds to Arts Centre

UC Arts’ opening week draws crowds to Arts Centre

The University of Canterbury’s new presence at the Arts Centre in Christchurch’s cultural heart has proven popular with hundreds of visitors in its first week.

UC Arts, located in the former Chemistry building, is home to the new Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities which opened to the public for the first time on Saturday. Hundreds of people visited the museum in its opening weekend to see ancient Greek and Roman artefacts from the University of Canterbury’s world-renowned James Logie Memorial Collection.

Some of the antiquities in the Teece Museum’s inaugural exhibition, We Could Be Heroes, haven’t been on public display since before the Canterbury earthquakes.

Earlier in the week, more than 300 people attended music concerts in the UC Arts’ new Recital Room and a public lecture by Cambridge University’s Professor of Roman Studies and Director of Research, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, held in the Arts Centre’s Great Hall, the night before the Teece Museum was officially opened.

On Saturday night, the University of Canterbury’s chamber choir Consortia, conducted by Sue Densem, performed to a full house in the Great Hall. The concert featured 21st century choral ‘rockstar’ composers along with other recent, and near-recent instrumental and vocal compositions.

UC Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr spoke at the official opening of UC Arts during the week and also visited the Teece Museum during its first weekend.

“It’s a great boon to the central city to have another attraction to draw people to this arts and culture precinct. Our new Music and Classics facilities at the Arts Centre reconnect UC with its history in the heart of Christchurch and further cements the University as a vital force in the future of the new city with strong links to the community through arts and performance,” Dr Carr says.

The new purpose-built Recital Room enables the University’s School of Music to host public concerts and events in the central city, which Professor Paul Millar, Head of the UC School of Humanities and Creative Arts and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the College of Arts, has been pleased to see.

“Our new facilities at the Arts Centre are already playing an important role in allowing us to open a door in the central city to the University,” Prof Millar says.

“UC’s Music and Classics departments are now in the ideal environment for greater collaboration with the Arts Centre, Canterbury Museum, galleries, music centres, theatres and other key parts of Christchurch’s arts community.”

As well as providing high quality, modern facilities for UC’s Music and Classics students, a strong motivator behind this move has been improving public accessibility to the James Logie Memorial Collection, which is curated by Penny Minchin-Garvin and Terri Elder.

“This collection, bequeathed to UC almost 60 years ago, is one of the finest teaching collections of antiquities in the Southern Hemisphere, but until now, and especially after the quakes, it has been relatively inaccessible to the wider public,” Ms Elder says.

“The local community, visiting academics, schoolchildren and visitors to Christchurch can now come and explore this wonderful collection of ancient art at the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities.”

Originally built in 1910, the Chemistry building was strengthened and fitted out specifically for the use of UC Music and Classics students and staff. The refurbished building is a beautiful blend of original and modern features.

UC Music Concerts and Events
An exciting programme of free music concerts and events is being held in UC’s new Recital Room in the Chemistry building at the Arts Centre of Christchurch, including Friday Lunchtime Concerts, New Music Central performances, composition workshops and the UC Music Research Seminar Series.

The upcoming UC Connect performance lecture: Life in Conflict – Notes and afterthoughts from a performer/composer by Head of Performance Music, violinist Professor Mark Menzies, has already sold out and has a waiting list for tickets.

Find out what’s on at www.canterbury.ac.nz/arts/schools-and-departments/school-of-music/

We Could Be Heroes: The gods and heroes of the ancient Greeks and Romans

We Could be Heroes is the inaugural exhibition at the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities.

The gods and heroes of the Greeks and Romans were powerful and complex. This exhibition celebrates the stories of their adventures, disputes, conflicts and love interests.

When: Exhibition runs until 29 October 2017. Open to the public Wednesdays to Sundays, 11am-3pm. Admission by gold coin donation. Open by appointment for school and group visits Mondays and Tuesdays, 9am-3pm.

Where: Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities at the University of Canterbury
Chemistry Building
The Arts Centre
3 Hereford Street
Christchurch

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