Landmark City Gallery exhibition opens in Dunedin

Landmark City Gallery exhibition opens in Dunedin

Parihaka: The Art of Passive Resistance, the groundbreaking partnership exhibition between City Gallery Wellington and Parihaka Pa Trustees which was held in Wellington in 2000-2001, opens in Dunedin tomorrow. It will then go on to be presented in New Plymouth at the new Taranaki museum Pukeariki in 2003.

The exhibition, exploring the political and spiritual significance of Parihaka and its artistic legacy, has been a landmark project for City Gallery Wellington and the New Zealand museum industry generally. Featuring commissioned work from contemporary New Zealand painters and poets alongside a range of historical material, the exhibition is accompanied by an award-winning City Gallery Wellington publication and CD, produced by the Morrison Trust. Almost 55,000 people visited the exhibition at City Gallery over the summer of 2000/2001.

"It means a great deal to both City Gallery and the people of Parihaka to be able to tour this exhibition to Dunedin, where members of the Parihaka community were held prisoner in the mid 19th century," says Director of City Gallery Wellington Paula Savage. "This partnership project has always been about much more than just an exhibition. The exhibition's travel to Dunedin and Taranaki is another important step in what has been for us an extraordinary journey." For its exhibition at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, opening Tuesday 26 November, a new component has been developed especially for Dunedin audiences, called Te Iwi Herehere, Ngä Mau Herehere Törangäpu. Political Prisoners. The Story of the Maori Prisoners from Taranaki in Otago 1869-1982. This will explore the historic links between Ngai Tahu, Otakou Marae and Parihaka.

Parihaka: The Art of Passive Resistance at Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 26 November 2002 - 11 February 2003.

A partnership project between City Gallery Wellington and Parihaka Pa Trustees Parihaka: The Art of Passive Resistance has been generously supported in Dunedin by New Zealand Millennium Office; The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board; Creative New Zealand Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa; Wellington City Council; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; and Taranaki Museum. It has been generously sponsored by Bell Gully Barristers and Solicitors; Wakatu Incorporation; Tohu Wines; Parininihi Ki Waitotara Incorporation; The Dominion; Saatchi & Saatchi; and the City Gallery Wellington Foundation.

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