The levelling of Puke Ahu

The levelling of Puke Ahu
Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, Izzy O’Neill &
Elijah Winter, Angela Kilford
7 - 21 March, 2015

The levelling of Puke Ahu - An Enjoy Public Art Gallery offsite project curated by Emma Ng

The history of Puke Ahu (Mt Cook) is studded with instances of conflict, labour, violence, and art – many of them little known among those who live and work around the hill. Through incarnations as a prison, military barracks, national museum and art gallery, and a university campus, the site has been slowly levelled; worn away as the land was repeatedly scratched bare and rewritten.

Played out in the symbolic language of stone and scale, the site is now emblematic of an agenda that celebrates war memorial as a unifying, ‘nation-making’ narrative, while displacing the role of the arts – particularly when used to ask questions and destabilise ‘collectively-held’ identities.

Bronwyn Holloway-Smith’s work will be onsite for the duration of the project, while Izzy O’Neill & Elijah Winter, and Angela Kilford will present performance based work with dates and times yet to be announced.

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