NEWS RELEASE 30 October 2008

Wellington galleries embrace WelTec graduates

From Wednesday 5 November, Toi Pôneke Gallery will be awash with proud parents and friends when WelTec’s Bachelor of Visual Arts graduate exhibitions open to the public.

This exhibition is part of a wider series of exhibitions by creative technologies graduates taking place this month in galleries throughout the city.

The exhibition, which consists of everything from installation to photography, from painting to lightboxes, explores bicultural identity, the replacement of artificial intelligence for domestic animals, the ‘crude’ cityscapes that are beginning to dominate the planet and the hierarchical roles in traditional Burmese society.

WelTec’s Visual Arts Programme Director Lorraine Rastorfer says students will be thrilled to see their work at Toi Pôneke Gallery, a place that is becoming increasingly known as not only a starting point for early-career artists, but also a place where established Wellington artists have been known to exhibit.

“The students have worked extremely hard this year with this in mind, and I think this exhibition is a treasure trove of personal experience, genealogy and an acute observation of social mores and what they might become. The display of technical proficiency is also tremendous,” says Lorraine.

Creative technologies students at Wellington Institute of Technology benefit from a unique style of learning.

“We go beyond developing their ability to think critically, we empower them with the practical skills to put theory into practice,” says Lorraine.

The Bachelor of Visual Arts Students exhibitions will take place across three different galleries in the city: Roar Gallery on Abel Smith Street (1-15 November), Thistle Hall Gallery on Cuba Street (11-16 November) and Toi Pôneke Gallery on Abel Smith Street (5-16 November).

ENDS

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