Four of the CRL's construction sites are being given makeovers to help celebrate and promote Artweek Auckland. Paul X Walsh works on Urban Jungle on Karangahape Rd. Photo / Supplied
While the city went into lockdown, art flourished in isolation.
Now, Aucklanders' first weekend in level 1 will be marked with a splash of colour.
The city's 10th Artweek starts today and celebrates local artists. The festival extends across the region and features painting, photography, sculpture, workshops, light shows, cycling and walking tours and pop-up events.
Below are some of the highlights.
CRL
Four construction sites for New Zealand's largest transport infrastructure project – Auckland's City Rail Link - have been given makeovers.
The spaces where the Link Alliance is building the project's stations and tunnels at Aotea (central Auckland), Karangahape and Mt Eden have been transformed. People can join free, guided walking tours and learn more about the artists and their work.
At the fourth CRL site - the corner of Albert and Wolfe streets in the central city – storyteller artist Elliot Collins will reveal a text-based activation that uses wooden monuments made from salvaged CRL construction materials on Wednesday.
"CRL's usual palette is concrete and steel, but we are now going to add some vibrant colour into the mix by turning the hoardings and fence lines around our construction sites into open-air galleries to show off the work of highly talented creatives," said Dr Sean Sweeney, chief executive of City Rail Link Ltd.
Workshops on the Waterfront
Get the kids outdoors, active and thinking creatively with drop-in workshops on Wynyard Quarter.
Activities include arts and crafts, practical skills and sports-based activities.
Workshops run next to the playspace in Silo Park from 11am tomorrow and next Sunday.
Waterfront Family Art Walk
Explore diverse forms of art in the city's streets, squares, and laneways on free guided walking tours.
This family-friendly tour takes in the city centre's Viaduct, Silo Park and Wynyard Quarter.
Bookings must be made for the tours today and next Sunday. They run between 11am – 1pm.
A Year in Aotearoa
Witness the wonder of Aotearoa in this exhibition featuring images from the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year 2020 Competition.
Look through the lens of some of New Zealand's top photographers at the Maritime Museum across a range of categories including aerial, landscape, wildlife, society, and photostory.
You can also cast your vote in-person or online in the People's Choice Award.
Images of Tāmaki Makaurau
Ans Westra is renowned for her photos of everyday life. Her images of Tāmaki Makaurau between 1963 and 1984 show old buildings in the CBD and Aucklanders going about their daily lives.
Also included in the exhibition are a series of large-scale, vibrant and detailed images of flowers made in the early 2000s.
{Suite} Art Gallery director David Alsop will present two floor talks on the life and work of Ans Westra on Wednesday at 11am and next Saturday at 2pm at the gallery on 189 Ponsonby Rd.
Following this year's Artweek, Deborah White, outgoing director, and director of Grey Lynn Whitespace Contemporary Art Gallery, will be stepping down.
After musing upon the decade that was, White spoke to Dione Joseph about some of the works that have continued to capture her imagination. As she reiterated, it's hard for a parent to choose their favourites so this is "most definitely NOT that list".
Changing Lanes, Chris Berthelsen and Xin Cheng (2016)
"This duo transformed Lower Vulcan Lane to create a welcoming terrain for relaxing, making, eating and being together. It was a very gentle installation that turned out to be provocative and created lots of discussion about homelessness; the role of art and its power."
Stuck in a Maze, Margaret Lewis in collaboration with Awhina Mai Tatou Katoa (2017)
"The work developed at Auckland City Library centered around the key question, 'How do people end up sleeping rough?' The interactive maze took people on a journey from being housed to homeless and along the way shed light on what it is to be homeless in Auckland. It offered a glimpse into a world of no-choice choices where things just happen."
Bone Like This, Hanna Shim (2019)
"This was a deeply moving exhibition at Whitespace looking at the fragility of life and certainty of death."
The SaVage K'lub's inaugural High Tea (2015)
"Led by Rosanna Raymond this pop-up event at St Kevin's arcade proved as always to be a provocative and visually spectacular performance offering discussions on influencing art and culture through the interfacing of time."
Asylum, Peter Roche (2016)
"The late Peter Roche's multi-sensory art installation involved spectacular sound and visual effects to create an absorbing experience in the fabulous industrial silo site.
‘Mum had lived and died with this secret,’ says writer Mary Garden.