Artweek ’19 delivered an energy jolt to Auckland over 10 days of October, with a smorgasbord of exciting free events across the city promoting our engagement with the visual arts.
Artweek ’19 delivered an energy jolt to Auckland over 10 days of October, with a smorgasbord of exciting free events across the city promoting our engagement with the visual arts.
Neon lights and interactive architecture lit up the evenings, artist studios opened their doors, pop-ups proliferated, galleries opened late with talks from artists and gallery directors. There were performances in public spaces, tours of private collections, street art, late nights and day trips.
K’Road Late Night Art Tours, proudly supported by the K’Road Business Association, gave over 100 people a unique look into the diverse art community that resides along the K’Road and Great North Road strip. Curated by Emil McAvoy and headed by himself, Zoe Black, Julia Craig and Evan Woodruffe, these tours visited artists’ studios, artist-run initiatives, community art galleries, alternative art spaces, art schools and art galleries with a two-hour walking tour, refreshed along the way by Tiger Beer and Babich Wines.
Each art location is distinct, and the guides, often involving the gallerist or artist, explained how the different parts of the arts ecology functioned, to build a fuller picture than could otherwise be gleaned.
The tour groups were able to see where art was created, both in the studios at 1B Ponsonby Road, and in classrooms such as Browne School of Art and Toi Ora. Once work is made – where does it go?
A healthy art environment offers a variety of platforms to suit diverse artistic approaches.
Studio One Toi Tu is a community gallery providing an important space for showcasing work from emerging artists, while Artspace focuses on non-commercial projects. Artist-run initiatives (ARI) does these also, but with a more peer-focused audience. RM is New Zealand’s longest-running ARI, while Mokopopaki is one of the most recent. Non-commercial forays into sound art perform at Audio Foundation, and Pacifica artists find support and networks through Tautai Trust.
Dealer galleries are the professional promoters of visual artists, and the tour saw how differently this could be done, as exampled by OREXART, Fox Jensen McCrory, and Whitespace, just three of the dozen commercial galleries in our neighbourhood.
Artweek invigorates Auckland as we struggle out of winter, and helps remind us of how buoyant the visual arts make a city. Make sure Artweek 2020 is in your calendar.
(Evan Woodruffe/Studio Art Supplies)
www.studioart.co.nz