A Section of the ‘Out of the Blue’ exhibit at CAN.
A Section of the ‘Out of the Blue’ exhibit at CAN.
OPINION
Coming off a busy Art Deco Weekend, Creative Arts Napier had another big night on Friday, March 1, with five new exhibitions opening and 200 guests coming along to celebrate.
National Seaweek was at the forefront of the evening with our main exhibition Out of the Blue showcasing in our Main and Hastings Sts galleries.
Featuring work by local artists exploring the sea and surrounding ecosystems, this stunning exhibition has something for everyone.
You have the opportunity to vote for your favourite artist and win a CAN gift voucher. The people’s choice artist will be awarded an exhibition space at CAN.
View the exhibition and cast your vote until March 24. All work available for purchase.
Sadie Hira with her winning entry, Puffy.
The Youth Seaweek Exhibition & Competition sponsored by the National Aquarium of New Zealand and Creative Communities was also a huge success, and will be in our Small Gallery until March 14.
You also have the opportunity to vote for your favourite piece in each age category.
The judges’ selection picks were announced at the opening, with some fantastic ocean-themed prizes presented to the young artists by National Aquarium general manager Rachel Haydon.
The winners were:
5–8 years: Sadie Hira for her Puffy sculpture.
9–12 years: Sebastian Grau for What Lurks Beneath mixed media.
13–16 years: Sapphire Parker for Ocean Journey mixed media.
Congratulations to our three winners, and to all the young creatives who entered.
Lisa Loveday with her proud parents on opening night.
Also new at CAN, we have two debut exhibitions, Lisa Loveday’s Something Fishy, and 11-year-old Leo Pipe’s Wakadoo Art series. View both exhibitions in our foyer throughout March.
In our workshop, we are delighted to host a solo retrospective of Scott Kersley’s works.
Scott was born in Christchurch and educated at Nelson College, Otago University and Auckland University. He taught design and visual arts at Taradale High from 1992 to 2017.
Scott’s bold and eclectic work ranges from abstract paintings to peaceful landscapes, some familiar and some created from his imagination. You can view and purchase his work throughout March in our Workshop Gallery.
Scott Kersley with some of his fascinating paintings.
On March 15, we are looking forward to welcoming Ola Sawaie into our Small Gallery to open her cross-cultural exhibition Intertwined.
Ola’s work stands as a response to the fifth anniversary of the Christchurch terror attack and the ongoing war in the Middle East.
It is a celebration of pattern and colour that honours the role of Palestinian and Māori wāhine (women) exemplifying silent resistance through cross-stitching and weaving.
All are welcome to attend the opening on March 15 from 5pm to 7pm.
Ola is an artist and designer from Jordan now living in Te Matau-a-Māui Hawkes Bay.
In this show, she connects the two worlds of Palestinian tatreez (embroidery) and Māori raranga and pūeru (weaving and textiles).
As a Jordanian-Kiwi, she reflects her own hyphenated cultural identity in her cross-cultural designs.
Her textile pieces echo many layers and meanings of cultural identity, resistance, and the pursuit of peace. Groups of women from two cultures (Palestinian and Māori) gather to talk, cross-stitch, weave, share their stories, and display their resilience.
Ola’s interventions bring these two worlds together to highlight the possibility of cultures living in harmony.
In addition to textiles, the exhibition includes watercolour drawings, photography, graphic design, and product design that reflect further explorations into the Māori and Islamic/Arabic modes of art.
