Like last year's exhibition, this year's also carries the theme Stories in the Landscape. Photo / Supplied
Like last year's exhibition, this year's also carries the theme Stories in the Landscape. Photo / Supplied
The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum is getting ready for the opening of its annual sculpture exhibition on Friday.
Stories in the Landscape 2022 features 30 sculptures from emerging and established artists and craftspeople from across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia.
This year's exhibition will be the Sculpture Park and Arboretum's 25th which is interwoven with the park's permanent collection.
Curator of this exhibition Gina Ferguson says Stories in the Landscape generates new conversations through the breadth of stories that are shared and located within the landscape.
"These are precarious times where we face many challenges and uncertainties. Our perspective on the world around us is changing and with that change comes a need to articulate narratives with greater urgency," Ferguson says.
The stories of the sculptures are diverse: Personal, cultural, environmental, political, local and global. Some emerge from the material and making process.
"As a collective story, it is one that acknowledges our diversity, gives voice to our embodied histories, whenua, place and time," Ferguson says.
Featured artists include metal artists Carolyn Menzies and Joe Citizen, Auckland artist Tonina Ngatai, clay artist Carla Ruka, recycled material artist Bev Goodwin, light artist Larisse Hall and cast glass artist Hannah Bremner.
The arboreutm lies within scenic pockets, small lakes, wide-open spaces and denser clusters of bush. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Stories in the Landscape 2022 will open to the public this Saturday, November 12, and runs until February 26.
The Arboretum and Sculpture Park was created by Dorothy and John Wakeling who bought the 17.5ha property that used to be a greywacke quarry in 1991 with one big mission: To rehabilitate the land through the planting of all kinds of native, foreign, and rare plants, and to absorb carbon out of the atmosphere in order to slow down climate change.
Since the start of their mission, the couple have planted more than 20,000 trees.
In 2003, Waitakaruru held its first sculpture exhibition. Now Dorothy and John have more than 100 sculptures on their grounds permanently that can be viewed on a 2km loop walk.
"There are dynamic, sweeping vistas, dramatic scenic pockets, small lakes, and wide-open spaces alongside denser clusters of bush. The terrain presents an ever-changing landscape providing an engaging experience for artists and visitors when walking the 2km trail," Ferguson says.
