Inner space for objects

Objectspace, a centre for craft and design, will inject new life into the Auckland crafts scene, writes ANDREW CLIFFORD




It was six years ago that the idea for Objectspace was originally conceived, but Auckland's new centre for craft and design has finally hatched and is now open to the public.

As those involved discovered, setting up a dramatically new venture like Objectspace can be a chicken-and-egg process. It's not simple getting finance for a project that doesn't yet exist, or enlisting support before you get finance.

In fact, in setting it up, it would have been nice if there was already an organisation like yours to help you communicate with everyone.

The chairman of Objectspace's board is Auckland jeweller Warwick Freeman, who was involved with the project when it was first proposed.

"We were dealing with a sector that really, in terms of centralised administration, had been fairly rudderless since the crafts council was disbanded in the early 1990s. There wasn't a sense of how you would rebuild any infrastructure in the sector, so we were really working from scratch."

The craft community's flagship events were also dwindling, with the Philips' Glass Awards long closed and the Fletcher Challenge Ceramic Awards about to go. To the casual observer, the craft scene may still have appeared healthy, but there was an urgent need for investment in its future development.

"In terms of central government funding, the sector hadn't been well served, whereas other areas in the arts had picked up a lot of support," recalls Freeman.

"I think [the craft sector] was being punished, almost, for being quite a successful sector in terms of managing to sustain itself. I could see that that lack of investment was having repercussions in terms of how the sector was developing.

"It had got very strong in retail, but not particularly well focused. A couple of provincial museums like the Dowse and Hawkes Bay were doing their bit to promote contemporary craft and design, but not really going beyond that level."

Recognising this need for rejuvenation, Creative New Zealand set up the international Persuasive Object conference in 1998. Philip Clarke, then working for Creative New Zealand, helped to organise the event.

Says Clarke: "The inaugural director of the Object Centre in Australia was one of the key speakers. Object was a brand new initiative at that time, and he was a very persuasive and engaging speaker and talked about what they were doing over there.

"By the time the [next] forum came around, a number of people were saying, 'What we really need is something like Object in Sydney', which created this focus."

Although there were more gatherings and a lot of informal discussion over the next few years, particularly in the jewellery community, the idea did not get much traction.

Another jeweller, Mary Curtis, took charge for a period, paid to work part-time, before Freeman took the reins again.

Says Freeman: "I started working with John McCormack, who had a lot of experience in the public art sector. We put in a proposal to Creative New Zealand for the space and they came back and made money available to do some feasibility work on it. By then it had a working party and it started its run then, about three years ago.

"It turned from a working party into a board of trustees, then an incorporated society, and just before Christmas last year secured the funding from Creative New Zealand to operate as a recurrently funded organisation."

Throughout 2003, Objectspace initiated a symposium and two exhibitions, one at Te Tuhi and the other at Auckland Museum. But then, with a funding commitment, the organisation could hire a director and seek a permanent venue. Within weeks Objectspace had a base in an historic former bank at the start of Ponsonby Rd.

"On a conceptual level, now that Objectspace has a home, half the battle is won," says board member Angela Roper.

"Talking about an idea or vision can be challenging. Showing people is so much easier. It's not going to happen, it has happened."

She says appointing Clarke as director was a major coup. "Philip brings with him a huge amount of knowledge, dedication and respect from the industry."

Roper was asked to help develop Objectspace because she was actively involved in nurturing the local design community.

As well as serving on the Designers Institute of New Zealand, she is director of Eon Design Centre, a store she set up to inspire innovation and provide opportunities for local designers.


It was made clear early on that Objectspace would never sell work, a stance made possible through public and private funding. Its nearest neighbour Masterworks Gallery's co-owner Sara Sadd says she supports Objectspace wholeheartedly.

"As a non-selling exhibition space, Objectspace will show a comprehensive range of works, including some which might not readily gain exposure in dealer galleries. This will extend the breadth of knowledge of object-making and can only further raise the profile of this area of the creative arts.

"We view this as a symbiotic relationship where we also inform clients and encourage them to visit Objectspace."

Another of Objectspace's advantages is that, by being small and having a staff of only one, it can be proactive and move quickly. Its first exhibition, Southern Exposure, features 24 of New Zealand's top glass artist and was curated for the Glasmuseum in Denmark.

Says Clarke: "It was on for about two months at the Sarjeant Gallery and we've just happened to grab it as it moves from Wanganui to Copenhagen. It's being packed up in Auckland, so we've grabbed it."

Roper, Freeman and Clarke agree the next step is for object-makers to take ownership of their new forum and propose ways of using it.

To nurture this previously frail sector and generate momentum, the first Objectspace-curated exhibitions will encourage new object-makers, collectors and the writers who create critical dialogue about the work.


Objectspace will be officially launched with the opening of Entry, a cross-section of emerging talent, in late July.

EXHIBITION

*What: Southern Exposure

*Where: Objectspace, 8 Ponsonby Rd

*When: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, until May 29