Muka set to open young Masterton eyes

The Muka Youth Print Collection is being exhibited throughout the country and has a one-day showing at the Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History in Masterton next Thursday.

An art exhibition created exclusively for people under 19 makes its way to Aratoi next week.

The Muka Youth Print Collection is being exhibited throughout the country and has a one-day showing in Masterton next Thursday.

The idea behind the exhibition is to open up the art world to young people, giving them the chance to judge, choose and own original works of contemporary art.

Adults are barred from the exhibition and young visitors are only allowed to enter the show once.

Usually, the cost of art is prohibitive for youth but each lithograph in the 40-piece collection is priced at $67 to attract young buyers.

The names of 20 well-known artists are covered so the prints are chosen by their appeal.

It's the 27th collection of the youth print project which was started by Magda van Gils of Muka Studio in Auckland in 1987. Since then, about 50,000 original works have been bought by Kiwi teens who have taken the opportunity to start a fine art collection.

Artists from around the world create the works specially for the project.