17 September 2006 - 5 November 2006
This exhibition features paintings from some of New Zealand's best known modern and historical artists. Te Huringa / Turning Points charts a stunning visual history of this country's journey from early European contact, settlement and colonisation through to contemporary perspectives by 20th and 21st Century artists. The exhibition includes work by Augustus Earle, Nicholas Chevalier, Francis Dillon Bell, Charles Goldie, Colin McCahon, Gordon Walters, Darcy Nicholas, Sandy Adsett, Robyn Kahukiwa, Emare Karaka, Shane Cotton and Peter Robinson.
Toured by the Sarjeant Gallery of Wanganui and supported by Te Puni Kokiri and the Fletcher Trust, Te Huringa features magnificent paintings from the Fletcher Trust Collection and also from the Sarjeant Gallery Permanent Collection and has been co-curated by Peter Shaw, Curator of the Fletcher Trust Collection and Dr Jo Diamond, Nga Puhi–nui–tonu, Lecturer in Art History, University of Canterbury. Each painting in the exhibition has a dual interpretation by the two curators reflecting their culturally different viewpoints.
The exhibition has been designed to appeal directly to people of all ages and backgrounds. It can be read on a number of levels: simply as an interesting range of paintings of New Zealand or, if viewers wish to engage with the issues presented in the accompanying labels, as an opportunity to consider the artists' intentions. There is often a contentious intersection between two cultures - one indigenous, the other post colonial.
The exhibition is accompanied by a complimentary, collectible A4 gate-fold colour catalogue. Entry to this exhibition is free of charge.