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July 2015

A long list of cultural organisations & projects in Christchurch


Public art galleries & museums:

Airforce Museum
Where: 45 Harvard Avenue, Wigram
What: A national museum that tells the history of the New Zealand Airforce.

Canterbury Museum
Where: Rolleston Avenue, central city
What: The social history museum of Christchurch.

Centre of Contemporary Art (that’s us!)
Where: 66 Gloucester Street (closed due to repairs until Spring 2015)
What: A public art gallery (governed by the Canterbury Society of Arts Charitable Trust) that will produce contemporary art exhibitions and associated events.

Christchurch Art Gallery: Te Puna O Waiwhetu
Where: Corner Montreal & Gloucester Streets (closed due to repairs until Summer 2015/16). Outer spaces programme on offer in the meantime
What: Christchurch City Council owned public art gallery.

Ilam Campus Gallery, University of Canterbury
Where: Fine Arts Lane, Ilam
What: The gallery associated with the University of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts.

Man Friday
Where: 201C Bealey Avenue, central city
What: An artist-run space in the shed beside North Projects (see below).

North Projects
Where: 201C Bealey Avenue, central city
What: An artist-run initiative operating out of a former house.

The Physics Room
Where: 209 Tuam Street, central city
What: A non-profit public art gallery that exhibits work by emerging contemporary artists and facilitates artist residencies.

Room Four 
Where: 336 St Asaph Street, central city
What: Exhibition space beside the Room Four bar / performance venue.

Commercial / privately-owned galleries:

Absolution
Where: The Tannery, 3 Garlands Road, Woolston
What: Tattoo studio that also exhibits and sells contemporary art.

Art Box Gallery
Where: 1/16 Loftus Street, Papanui
What: Gallery that sells artwork by local and New Zealand artists.

Arts Central
Where: 100 Peterborough Street, central city
What: A commercial gallery that shows and sells local visual art and craft.

Art Metro
Where: 465 Papanui Road
What: An art supplies shop that also offers art classes.

Chambers 241 Art Gallery
Where: 241 Moorhouse Avenue
What: A dealer gallery with artists’ studios at the rear.

Dewsbury Lane Studios and Gallery
Where: Corner Drewsbury Lane and Battersea Street, Sydenham           
What: A visual art gallery with two spaces dedicated to emerging artists. Behind the gallery are nine studios for rent.
Contact: WarrenFeeney@xtra.co.nz

Form Gallery
Where: 468 Colombo Street
What: A gallery that exhibits and sells New Zealand contemporary objects.

Iron Ridge Quarry


Where: 707 Rampaddock Road, Amberley


What: A sculpture park showcasing Raymond Herber’s work.

Jonathan Smart Gallery
Where: 52 Buchan Street
What: A dealer gallery that showcases and sells contemporary New Zealand art.

L’Estrange Art Gallery
Where: 53 Nayland Street, Sumner
What: Sumner’s art gallery showing local art.

Little River Gallery
Where: Main Road, Little River
What: A commercial gallery that showcases and sells visual art and craft by local artists.

The National
Where: 241 Moorhouse Avenue
What: A gallery that exhibits and sells leading New Zealand contemporary objects and jewellery.

PG Gallery 192
Where: 192 Bealey Avenue
What: A gallery representing contemporary New Zealand artists. At the rear is PaperGraphica Print Studio, equipped to print fine lithographs.

Tin Palace
Where: 3A Oxford Street, Lyttelton
What: An art gallery with exhibitions that change monthly.


Performance spaces:

The Arts Centre
Where: 22-36 Rolleston Avenue (partially open; still under repair)
What: Currently home of the ‘Gym’ theatre (see Free Theatre below). When repaired, the Arts Centre will supports diverse art forms by offering studios, gallery spaces and offices for cultural organisations.

Court Theatre
Where: Bernard Street, Addington
What: A performing arts theatre in a converted warehouse.

Free Theatre
Where: Based at the ‘Gym’ Arts Centre, 301 Montreal Street
What: A professional theatre collective that performs major shows and weekly Ubu Nights.

Isaac Theatre Royal
Where: 145 Gloucester Street
What: An historic Christchurch theatre that shows large music performances, theatre and film.

Spaces for hire, project facilitation & collaboration:

The Commons
Where: 70 Kilmore Street
What: A public space managed by GapFiller where many creative and social events are held.

Exchange Christchurch (XCHC)
Where: 376 Wilsons Road
What: A charitable trust set up to provide affordable workspaces to emerging creative industries, along with venue hire.

Gap Filler
Where: Office at The Commons, 70 Kilmore Street
What: A charitable trust that activates vacant sites with creative projects.

Life in Vacant Spaces (LIVS)
What: A charitable trust that brokers vacant spaces with community-led projects.

Ministry of Awesome
Where: 208 Madras Street
What: A trust that supports start-ups and provides a co-working space.

YMCA
Where: 12 Hereford Street
What: Accommodation, gym and collaborator of cultural exhibitions
(ie. the Spectrum Street Art Festival).

Cultural education providers:

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT)
Where: 130 Madras Street
What: A tertiary training provider. Cultural fields of study include performance, music and architecture.

College of Arts, University of Canterbury
Where: Fine Arts Lane, Ilam
What: The School of Fine Arts, Art History and Curatorial Studies (along with other humanities subjects) are managed by the College of Arts.

Design and Arts College of New Zealand
Where: 52-54 Oxford Street
What: One of two campuses in New Zealand (the other is in Auckland)

Hagley Community College
Where: 510 Hagley Avenue
What: Provider of adult classes in a wide range of skills, including dance and fine art.

Hagley Theatre and Hagley Dance Company
Where: 510 Hagley Avenue
What: Full-time contemporary dance course and productions.

Events & festivals:

Art Beat
What: A multi-arts event for three months over summer.

Christchurch Arts Festival
Where: Various central Christchurch venues
What: An annual festival of arts, performance and entertainment.

Christchurch Art Show
What: Christchurch’s largest art show. It annually shows and sells artwork by hundreds of NZ artists and presents the Christchurch Art Show Award.

FESTA - Festival of Transitional Architecture
Where: Various outdoor locations in central Christchurch
What: A free festival of architecture, performance and art that explores Christchurch’s urban regeneration. Next FESTA: October 2016.

First Thursdays
Where: The streets, parks and shops of Sydenham
What: A free arts and entertainment event for all ages held three times a year. Presented by Art Beat.

Lyttelton Harbour Festival of Lights
Where: London Street, Lyttelton
What: Annual winter festival organised by Project Lyttelton.

Pecha Kucha Christchurch
Where: Different locations around Christchurch
What: Quarterly informal gatherings where people get together and share their ideas, works and thoughts in the PechaKucha 20x20 format.

SCAPE Public Art
Where: Various outdoor locations in central Christchurch
What: A festival of free-to-view contemporary public art in Christchurch city. SCAPE 8 Biennial: 3 October–15 November 2015.

Sculpture on the Peninsula
Where: London Farm, Banks Peninsula
What: A contemporary biannual sculpture exhibition.

WORD Christchurch
What: An organisation that produces literary events, including the Writers & Readers Festival. 


Ongoing arts/cultural projects:

ArtBox
Where: Corner Madras and St Asaph Streets
What: A temporary container gallery available for exhibition hire through CPIT.

Arts Canterbury
What: A group that profiles art galleries and artists in Christchurch.

A Brave New City
What: A group that produces projects to develop social capital in Christchurch.

Greening the Rubble
What: A charitable trust creating temporary public parks and gardens on sites of demolished buildings.

Movement Art Practice (MAP)
Where: Classes at St Michaels Church Hall, Durham Street
What: Contemporary dance and yoga classes and support for research into contemporary dance movement.

Otakaro/Avon River Art Trail
What: A trail of public art currently being developed by CERA to connect the city with the sea through art.

Plantgang
What: An artist-led community undertaking creative planting in central Christchurch.

Information, mobile apps & networking groups:

Arts Canterbury
What: A group that profiles galleries, artists and exhibitions in Canterbury.

Be There
What: A website that showcases Christchurch events.

Christchurch
What: A Council-run website with information for visitors to Christchurch.

Christchurch Arts Audience Development Trust (CAAD)
What: A working group of 9 organisations developing arts audiences in Christchurch (focus on technology and communications).
Contact: MakeTheArtsPartofEverydayLife@gmail.com

Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism
Where: Botanic Gardens, Rolleston Avenue (next to Canterbury Museum)
What: The Regional Tourism Organisation of Canterbury.

Cityscape
What: An online guide to Christchurch city and surrounds.

Community Information Christchurch (CINCH)
What: An online listing of community venues and groups in Christchurch.

Future Christchurch
What: A mobile app that tells stories about Christchurch projects and development (produced by CERA and the Council).

In the Loop
What: A networking group for Christchurch’s arts and creative communities that meets monthly in different venues around the central city.

Neat Places
What: An online and brochure guide to retail, hospitality and cultural ‘neat places’ in Christchurch (and other major NZ cities). Mobile app available.

Jul 20, 2015 1 note
#culturalorganisation #creativenetwork #Christchurchart #culturaleducation #culturalproject #museum #artgallery #Christchurchfestival #networking
Jul 15, 2015
#vacuumcleaner
Curatorial Internship - contemporary art | The Big Idea | Te Aria Nuithebigidea.co.nz

The Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) in Christchurch is re-opening late Spring 2015 and we’re working on the first season’s programme! 

We’re seeking an enthusiastic and committed person to assist the Director & Principal Curator to curate and produce CoCA’s opening exhibition.

Please share this fantastic opportunity far and wide!

Applications must be in by 5pm on Thursday 30 July 2015.

Jul 15, 2015
#curatorialintern #artgallery #Christchurch #curating #opening exhibition
Savvy Comms & Marketing Intern wanted

Part-time, unpaid for three months

We are seeking an enthusiastic and committed individual to assist the Communications & Development Manager to develop high quality marketing and communications for the Spring 2015 opening exhibition and re-launch of CoCA. The intern will gain experience in a range of skills related to internal and external communications and marketing.

Background

CoCA has been closed since the 2011 earthquake and repairs on the purpose-built gallery are nearing completion. The Board of Trustees have taken the opportunity to reinvigorate its ambition to be a true Centre of Contemporary Art with curated exhibitions, projects and events for the public. A team of three full-time staff have recently been appointed, including Director & Principal Curator Paula Orrell, who has relocated from the UK for the position.

Term of internship

End of July until the end of October 2015 (negotiable)
Part-time, 2 days per week (negotiable)

Supervision

Supervisor: Julie Gaudin (CoCA Communications & Development Manager)

The Communications & Development Manager will manage the internship workload, delegate tasks and provide mentoring in the form of regular meetings and collaboration on projects.

Key relationships

Internal

  • Communications & Development Manager
  • Director & Principal Curator
  • Gallery Manager
  • Other interns/voluntary staff
  • Trustees of the Canterbury Society of Arts (CSA) Board (which governs CoCA)

External

  • Graphic designer
  • The media (publicists and journalists)
  • Web developer  

Position activities

The intern will assist the Communications & Development Manager with CoCA communications and marketing activities. The work will contribute to the achievement of outcomes prescribed in CoCA’s Communications & Marketing Strategy.

Skills and knowledge will be gained in:

  • Developing marketing strategies
  • Social media content and analysis
  • Advertising processes
  • Organising collateral design
  • Drafting copy
  • Website updating
  • CRM databases
  • Marketing analyses and evaluation

Competencies required for the job:

  • Interest in contemporary art
  • Problem solving and analytical thinking
  • Creative communications and writing
  • Basic website literacy
  • Experience with social media
  • Teamwork - internal and external
  • Eye for design (ie. layout)
  • Eye for detail (ie. proofreading)
  • Computer literate with Mac and Microsoft software

CoCA Internship Policy

CoCA will provide opportunities for emerging practitioners develop their knowledge and skills through a structured internship. The internship aims to provide students and professionals with practical experience that supports a chosen career.

CoCA adheres to the Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Health & Safety in Employment Act 1992, which includes unpaid employees, such as interns. CoCA is also following guidelines on volunteer management produced by Volunteering New Zealand and Creative New Zealand.

CoCA will ensure voluntary staff benefit from their work experiences by collaboratively creating individual professional development plans for the agreed duration of work. For each internship, CoCA will provide a job description and a written agreement that must be signed by the internship supervisor and the intern prior to the internship starting.

Application process

Please send your CV and cover letter (one page) outlining why you want to take on this opportunity, what you hope to gain and what you can offer CoCA to julie@coca.org.nz.

Applications due: 5pm, Thursday 30 July 2015

Short-listed applicants will be interviewed in person or by Skype.

Please send any enquiries to CoCA’s Communications & Development Manager Julie Gaudin at julie@coca.org.nz; or phone 027 258 2175.

Jul 15, 2015 2 notes
#communications #marketing #intern #artgallery #Christchurch
Jul 13, 2015
#christchurchrebuild
Jul 6, 2015
#cafe #gallery

June 2015

Jun 30, 2015
#christchurchrebuild #gallery #skylights
On the roof of the Centre of Contemporary Artus1.campaign-archive2.com

Our December 2014 e-news

Jun 29, 2015 1 note
#newsletter #christchurchrebuild #artgallery
'F' for.... February e-news!us1.campaign-archive2.com

Our February 2015 e-news

Jun 29, 2015
#newsletter #christchurchrebuild #artefacts #artgallery
Huge thanks for the support Christchurch City Council!us1.campaign-archive1.com

Our April 2015 e-news

Jun 21, 2015 3 notes
#newsletter #artgallery #Christchurch #christchurchrebuild #paulaorrell
What's happening to CoCA's art collection?us1.campaign-archive2.com

Our May 2015 e-news 

Jun 18, 2015
#artcollection #artgallery #newsletter
We're exposed! Wander by and see the CoCA gallery exteriorus1.campaign-archive2.com
Jun 16, 2015
#newsletter #christchurchrebuild #artgallery #contemporaryart #builders
Jun 15, 2015
#concreteblocks #engineeringgeek
Home

I am Marie Hudson, a proud voluntary staff member of CoCA and visitor host at the Canterbury Museum.

I arrived in Christchurch from London in late 1998 with an art degree and a teaching qualification in my backpack, and I gave myself one year. Within two months I’d met the man who was to become my husband and father to our two children, and one year has very quickly become seventeen. Funny that.

The thing is, it didn’t really feel like home. I hadn’t said goodbye properly to anyone in the UK. I wasn’t planning to stay. It just happened, and I went with the flow.

But when in 2011 the ground shook good and proper, the People came together, and for the first time, I belonged. I felt truly at home, at last. This was my Eureka moment: I didn’t want to be anywhere else and that made me happy.

Christchurch excites me so much.

Even while the adrenaline was still coursing through our bodies, the creative doers began to emerge from various corners of our city actioning opportunities that would have never been considered before, and I was watching it all with big wide eyes, dipping my toes in where I could. I found myself driving around town collecting quake-damaged china from homes, promising that it would be gifted back to the city as part of a public mosaic - and it was - and it is glorious.1 I dabbled with ArtBox as a volunteer coordinator and host, and when SCAPE 7 rolled around I gave public art tours through Christchurch. I danced with the Ministry of Awesome and was given a free t-shirt…    

The city is simply humming with potential and creativity and I’m loving it. I pedal around to get my fix of visual updates when I can, drinking in the changes. As a consequence I am now more familiar with the ‘now’ Christchurch than the ‘then’ Christchurch. I am very excited that the Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) is reopening in less than six months.

When CoCA posted a request for volunteers, my hand was one of the first in the air. Bring it on. How can I help? I am here. Being part of something that is not just a re-opening - but a rebirth - gives me goose bumps.

I love Christchurch; and how it’s opening up again. My city is being reborn and I’m staying to watch.

Footnote 1:
The Crack’d for Christchurch mosaic can be seen in The Green Room (a Greening the Rubble space) on Colombo Street, between Tuam and St Asaph Streets.

Images:
Top: Marie works on the Crack’d for Christchurch mosaic chair.
Photo by Jenny Cooper

Bottom: Julia Morison’s Tree Houses for Swamp Dwellers sculpture (on the corner of Gloucester and Colombo Streets) with rebuild activities and the Christchurch Cathedral in the background.
Photo by Marie Hudson

Jun 15, 2015
#christchurchrebuild #mosaic #juliamorison #mariehudson #christchurchart
Jun 12, 2015
#electricalwiring #christchurchrebuild #visionsystems
Jun 9, 2015 1 note
#juliamorison #swampdwellers #settingsun #treehouses #christchurchrebuild
Jun 4, 2015
#engineeringgeek

May 2015

May 26, 2015
#winebar
My internship: Becoming CoCA’s art collection specialist!

When imagining my art history honours year I never thought I would end up here… writing a blog about my internship with a prestigious organisation, and actually enjoying what is said to be one of the most challenging years at university. But in saying that, I had never imagined I would be interning at the Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA). I was afforded the opportunity through the University of Canterbury’s College of Arts Internship Programme. When I was told CoCA was on the cards, I put my hand up almost faster than the speed of light.

I started my internship with CoCA around the beginning of March 2015, and since then I have had my eyes opened to the incredible amount of work that goes on behind the scenes, of not only operating an art gallery, but also reopening one. My official role at CoCA has been ‘Collections Intern’. My role has entailed researching the historic and contemporary value of CoCA’s collection to fill in some gaps and provide as much information as possible.

New Zealand contemporary art isn’t an area I have delved into much before and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about artists and works from across the country. I knew about artists such as Dick Frizzell, Bill Hammond and Shane Cotton, but there are many names in CoCA’s collection that I had not come across before, and whose stories I have found incredibly fascinating.

Ralph Hotere is a New Zealand artist who I have always found captivating. CoCA holds in its collections two Hotere lithographs from his Window in Spain series (above on the right is Window in Spain I, 1996). I had seen several of these works around various New Zealand galleries and museums, but never knew the story behind them. Finally, during my internship, I have been able to get to the bottom of it!

And so the story goes…

In 1978, Hotere returns to France in the company of Cilla McQueen (the poet and linguist who he had married in 1973). They base themselves at Avignon, a town dominated by the residence of the fourteenth-century Popes in exile, and set out for Italy and Spain. Pope Paul IV dies while the pair are in Avignon. The newspaper headlines read: “Le Pape est Mort”. Later in the year when staying in Menorca his successor John Paul I also dies. The headlines of the Spanish papers similarly read: “El Papa ha Muerto” = “The Pope is Dead”.  The Window in Spain series and the Avignon watercolours were the result of this visit.1

Gordon Crook also features in CoCA’s collection and has been an interesting story to research. Crook moved to New Zealand in 1972 at the age of 51 to pursue a quieter , less social life. He had a few small commissions in New Zealand before his big break came. He was asked to design twenty banners for the New Zealand Embassy in Washington. The banners, each five metres high and one metre wide, combine South Pacific imagery and heraldry, and are still apparently impressive to see. I think Crook appeals because it was so unusual for an artist to have tapestry as one of their main forms of expression. However Crook was never considered an artist for going along with norms! He once stated, “Because I work in a lot of media, people can’t get to grips with my work. The point is that oneself as an artist remains consistent. My object is to end up with something that I haven’t seen before, to get an image which I could not have imagined”.2

During my time at CoCA I have been able to apply years of study to a project with real-life implications. It has been thrilling to be able to contribute to such a longstanding testament to art in Christchurch. I have always thought of myself as an organised person both in terms of time and productivity, but working on this project has definitely challenged me on my earlier opinions of myself.

I have learned a great deal about the history of art in Canterbury and New Zealand and what a significant role CoCA has played. I’ve been able to meet artists, CoCA board members, and industry professionals; and learn about how much CoCA has meant to Christchurch. At the end of June I will have researched the background of every artwork in the CoCA collection and I feel very privileged to hold this knowledge!

Abbey Topham
Collections Intern, CoCA

1. Art-newzealand.com, ‘Art New Zealand’. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 May 2015.
2. Collections.tepapa.govt.nz, 'Topic: Biography Of Gordon Crook | Collections Online - Museum Of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa’. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 May 2015.

May 19, 2015 1 note
#art collection #New Zealand art #collections intern #Abbey Topham #Ralph Hotere #Gordon Crook #Shane Cotton #Dick Frizzell #Bill Hammond
“You have to first experience the place”

The concept of curating and directing CoCA has now become a reality. I have said my farewell to Plymouth in the UK and flown across the globe and landed in Christchurch. I am now well into my second week of work on New Zealand soil.

On route to Christchurch I was fortunate to experience the Venice Biennale. Located in a sensational, historic setting, this is the largest of the world’s biannual contemporary art events. Okwui Enwezor is the renowned curator of the main exhibition All the World’s Futures. On for another five months, the exhibition is essentially about the state of the world today and how artists are reacting to and making sense of global issues. The exhibition is spread across two sites: the Arsenale, a beautiful former rope and ship building yard; and the well-maintained Giardini (gardens), surrounded by 29 pavilions built from 1907 onwards by the various nations participating in this enduring Biennale. There is also a surprisingly extensive collateral programme of creative projects and exhibitions around the city.

Experiencing so much artwork in one place left me with many highlights and potential resonances for CoCA. The pavilions give you a sense of global contemporary art, some of the works clearly defining the state of artists’ respective countries.

Artist Simon Denny, who is representing New Zealand, was extremely well received. His project Secret Power was partly prompted by the impact of whistleblower Edward Snowden’s leaks of National Security Agency (NSA) PowerPoint slides which outlined top-secret US telecommunications surveillance programmes. These slides highlighted New Zealand’s role in US intelligence work, as a member of the US-led ‘Five Eyes’ alliance. Now out in the open, the slides have come to represent international surveillance work and its impact on individual privacy. Denny’s ‘Biennale Arte 2015’ project has gained lots of international press and put New Zealand in the spotlight in the ‘art world’.

For me, Chinese artist Xu Bing’s Phoenix (above) most powerfully aligned with the curator’s concept for the Venice Biennale. Throughout China’s history, every dynasty has had its form of phoenixes. Representing luck, unity, power and prosperity, these mythological birds have, for the most part, been benevolent, gentle creatures. The pair in this exhibition, made out of materials used for China’s commercial development, reflects the grimmer and grittier face of China today. Essentially, the phoenix expresses unrealised hopes and dreams.

An opportunity that I hope to bring to CoCA from Venice is a fantastic work by British/Ghanaian artist John Akomfrah. I have worked with Akomfrah and the production team Smoking Dogs over the last few years, resulting in commissioned work. Akomfrah is a polemic artist, and working with him has definitely impacted on my thinking as a curator.

Akomfrah’s presentation Vertigo Sea is on display in the Biennale’s Central Pavilion. It is a new three-screen/channel film installation about whaling, the environment and our relationship with the sea. For the last 30 years, spanning cinema, television and gallery-based installations, Akomfrah’s work has engaged with questions of memory and identity, creating moving-image works, which give a voice to African migration in Europe. He fills gaps in history using archival material to create documentary-style ‘film essays’ and speculative fictional stories about our past. He is renowned for pushing the boundaries of documentary film.

During my quick four days in Venice, I enjoyed making new connections and developing existing relationships, both with the art and with the people. I am looking forward to applying this learning to CoCA’s projects here in Christchurch.

I am a firm believer that to make knowledge and skills relevant to a location you have to first experience the place. I’m really looking forward to experiencing and learning about the city so I can get a sense of how CoCA can once again become a key focal point and resource for the public and local art communities. I am extremely excited to be here!

Kia ora koutou.

Paula Orrell
Director & Principal Curator, CoCA


Image: Xu Bing’s Phoenix (2015) hanging between two boathouses at the Arsenale. 

May 18, 2015 4 notes
#Venice Biennale #contemporary art #Simon Denny #John Akomfrah #Xu Bing #CoCA director #CoCA curator #Paula Orrell
May 14, 2015 1 note
#gallerystaff #paulaorrell #clairebaker #coca
May 12, 2015
#paulaorrell #gallery
May 4, 2015
#wizard #christchurchartgallery #chapmanshomer

April 2015

Apr 30, 2015
Apr 23, 2015
Apr 20, 2015
Apr 13, 2015
#thepress
Play
Apr 9, 2015
#cocapop #livs #signtech #microhouse #fueledbycoffee #ministryofawesome
CoCA in Christchurch appoints exciting new Director & Principal Curator from UK

CoCA has officially appointed Paula Orrell as the new Director & Principal Curator. She will be responsible for developing and leading the gallery’s programme of exhibitions, projects and events.

The Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) gallery on Gloucester Street has been closed since the February 2011 earthquake for major strengthening and repair work and is set to reopen in Spring this year. Paula Orrell currently based in Plymouth, UK, will move to Christchurch to take up the role of Director & Principal Curator with CoCA next month.

“I am really excited about this opportunity to create a new experience of contemporary art for Christchurch audiences – particularly for people who might not have ever been to a contemporary art show. Good art programmes can stimulate debate and conversations about key issues that affect us all. I’m also looking forward to being exposed to new artists and exploring what this incredible country has to offer through its bourgeoning arts scene,” says Orrell.

“I want CoCA to become a centre of excellence in commissioning and supporting the ideas of artists and I hope to curate an exciting and engaging programme that captures the imagination of people in Christchurch. I last visited Christchurch nine years ago and I can’t wait to come back and get started and for CoCA to launch its first exhibition.”

Orrell brings a wealth of experience to the role. In London she curated exhibitions and commissioned new work for the Barbican Curve Gallery, Beaconsfield, the British Museum. She has also worked as a lecturer, curator and researcher at the London College of Fashion to develop and deliver an MA in Curating; curated and established a new contemporary art programme as curator of the Plymouth Arts Centre; and currently curates and directs a public art programme across South West England called the River Tamar Project.

Chair of CoCA’s Board of Trustees, Kristina Pickford, says the gallery’s closure for four and a half years has been frustrating but has given the Board the opportunity to develop a new vision, which Orrell is the ideal person to lead.

“CoCA has a long and proud history pioneering contemporary art in Christchurch for over 130 years. We’ve used this forced time-out following the quakes to look carefully at CoCA’s future and the Board’s role in that. We’re an independent charitable trust and we need to have meaning and relevance for people today to attract their support and have a healthy future here in Canterbury,” says Pickford.

“We want CoCA to encourage people to think and talk about contemporary life and culture in our rapidly changing city and country and we want to reach out beyond the gallery’s walls to do that. Paula’s experience and passion for bringing art to diverse communities is one of the reasons we’re so excited to have her join us.”

CoCA will encourage people to think and talk about contemporary life and culture in our rapidly changing city and country. Through off-site projects CoCA’s programme will extend beyond the gallery walls to engage with the broadest possible audience. Orrell’s experience and passion, combined with her commitment to bring art to diverse communities, will ensure CoCA is well-positioned to champion contemporary art locally and nationally. She will be assisted in developing CoCA’s exhibition programme by a curatorium of curators from New Zealand and overseas who were selected late last year. Members of the curatorium are:

  • Emma Bugden, Senior Curator, The Dowse, Lower Hutt
  • Gregory Burke, Director of Remai Modern Gallery, Canada
  • Abby Cunnane, Assistant Director, St PAUL St Gallery, Auckland
  • Blair French, Director, Curatorial & Digital, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
  • Zara Stanhope, Principal Curator, Auckland Art Gallery

Biography

Paula Orrell is an independent curator with diverse experience across Europe, China and the UK. For the past 15 years, she has championed and created new roles for the visual arts. Paula studied fine art at Sheffield Hallam University and then received an MA in Creative Curating from Goldsmiths College, London. She spent six years as the Curator at Plymouth Arts Centre, which she put firmly on the cultural map, transforming a regional arts centre into an internationally acclaimed venue by commissioning radical and significant artists. In Plymouth, Paula developed Take A Part, a socially engaged public art programme in partnership with the Plymouth City Council. She is also a director of Alias, an independent artists development programme that mentors individuals and groups. Most recently, Paula designed, developed and was the artistic director of the River Tamar Project, a contemporary public art programme and festival at Plymouth University. It is a biannual programme that explores the significant history of the area, linking three distinct regions across a significant river.

Paula has worked with a diverse range of well-known artists and helped to establish the careers of many younger artists, to name a few: Marina Abramovic, Lucy Orta, Roy Ascott, John Akomfrah, Melanie Manchot, Tom Dale, Cadu, and Ultra Red. The Director of the Tate, Sir Nicholas Serota, has praised Paula for her excellent programme, including works that went on to show at much bigger galleries. “It shows how relatively small organisations can be fleet of foot. You can have new ideas, break new ground and show the way to big organisations.”

Apr 2, 2015 2 notes
#artgallery #contemporaryart #Plymouth #curating #Britishcurator #artdirector
Apr 1, 2015 1 note
#Christchurch rebuild #art gallery #construction #artefact

March 2015

Mar 17, 2015 1 note
#artgallery #christchurchrebuild #volunteerstaff
Mar 12, 2015 2 notes
#universityofcanterbury #exhibition #contemporary art #textile

February 2015

Feb 25, 2015
#christchurchrebuild #rooftop #construction #art gallery
Feb 18, 2015
#lovechch #lotsgoingon
Feb 16, 2015
#art gallery #contemporary art #christchurchrebuild #construction
Feb 15, 2015
#art gallery #christchurchrebuild #the press #photographer
Feb 11, 2015
#art gallery #christchurchrebuild #construction #builder
CoCa Tourlaramumbycroft.com

As mentioned in my previous post I am currently volunteering for Centre of Contemporary art, aka CoCa. Today I had the opportunity to visit the CoCa site, where great work is being carried out to refurbish the building. I felt a strange mix of emotions being inside CoCa again, it felt like such a long time ago since I was last there. Being inside brought back many memories and I felt inspired to see the work underway to create, what I believe is going to be a great gallery space that people are going to enjoy. I cannot wait to see the new CoCa and feel very happy to be a very small part of this stage of preparation. Here are some photographs I took inside today (please forgive the poor quality, they were taken on my phone). I hope they will give you a feel for the space inside. Despite the grey weather today and the scaffolding blocking much of the light, I could really get a great sense of the natural light that will flow through the gallery when it is finished.  CoCa is set to re-open later this year! Stay posted for more updates.   

Feb 9, 2015 1 note
#volunteerstaff #artgallery #contemporary art #christchurchrebuild
Feb 8, 2015 1 note
#inspired #gallerytour #volunteerstaff #artgallery #christchurchrebuild
Play
Feb 4, 2015
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Feb 2, 2015
#art gallery #the caretaker #bob the builder #christchurchrebuild

January 2015

Jan 29, 2015
#art collection #art gallery #Christchurch #coca
Jan 27, 2015 2 notes
#art gallery #archaeology #christchurchrebuild #artifact #bricks
Jan 22, 2015 1 note
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Jan 21, 2015
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Jan 20, 2015 2 notes
#theauricle #rekindle #art gallery #urban #Christchurch
Welcome back CoCA: Can’t wait 'til Spring!

‘CoCA – Centre of Contemporary Art. Re-opening in Spring 2015’…That got my attention…‘Calling for volunteers’...Interesting, tell me more. ‘Sharing stimulating art experiences that engage people in conversations about contemporary life and culture’. OK. You’ve got me. I’m in!

The notion of ‘public art gallery’ is almost foreign in Christchurch after the quakes that rocked our institutions to their very foundations. Thankfully, over the last four years, the damage has stimulated creative innovation.

Exciting work has been done outside ‘the gallery’, in makeshift venues and al fresco settings throughout the city. Artists have expanded their DIY skills into event organising – grouping and promoting themselves as artists and art organisations.

Christchurch is now ready for a gallery that is devoted to its city, our diverse communities and contemporary artists here and abroad. It is exciting that CoCA will be re-born as a place to share ideas and engage people in contemporary art and creative projects.

My experience of CoCA is as an artist, exhibiting in the 2003 CoCA Contemporary Art Awards. I was in my third year of my Fine Arts degree at the University of Canterbury. And I was green. I had no idea what to expect yet I was impressed with how genuine and knowledgeable the gallery staff were and how popular this group show was. I fell in love with the space. I loved the echo of footsteps and chatter within the expansive ceilings; the way the gaudy pale lino squeaked underfoot; and the smell of freshly white painted walls, offset by the musty tinge of a 1960s building. It was the perfect introduction to showing artwork in a gallery setting. The experience helped me begin my fledgling career as an artist and excite me about future exhibitions.

I have such fond memories of CoCA – the architecture, the artists, the people behind the scenes – and of course at the heart of the gallery: the art. So to hear that the Centre of Contemporary Art is re-opening again this coming Spring really made me smile.

Welcome back CoCA. I’ve missed you.

Alanah Tocker
Artist and volunteer staff member of CoCA

Jan 19, 2015 1 note
Jan 14, 2015
#artists on tumblr #tin palace #lyttleton #volunteer #contemporary art
Jan 14, 2015
#chchstandstall #exhibition #publicart #giraffe
Jan 12, 2015 2 notes
#redzone #magnolia #Christchurch #activisim #nature
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