Auckland City Limits Reveals Festival Artwork Program

Auckland City Limits is set to land at Western Springs for its maiden event in just a few weeks time. The varied programme, modelled on the institutional Austin City Limits festival in Texas, promises to be more than just a music festival and the organisers have now announced the inclusion of a series of artworks to be installed throughout the sprawling grounds for the one-day event.

Curated by Amanda Wright, a co-founder of Splore and contributor to numerous other events, Auckland City Limits responds to the growing trend for music events to include complimentary creative elements to the festival atmosphere with a host of New Zealand’s contemporary artists contributing installations and works for the occasion. Taking on the urban park environment, Wright explains that the works will, “create links between all the various zones of Auckland City Limits in a playful, practical adventure.”

Undoubtedly, a highlight of the program will be a new large-scale collaborative effort titled Ngahere, which combines the vision of prominent NZ artists Judy Darragh, Lisa Reihana (2017 Venice Biennale representative), renowned architect Sue Hillery and multidisciplinary designer Robin Rawstorne. Lisa Reihana enjoyed a solo exhibition titled In Pursuit of Venus at Auckland Art Gallery last year, while Darragh’s ‘found object’ work has been extensively exhibited throughout New Zealand over the last three decades.

Following on with the collaborative theme, the Looks Good on Paper Collective will erect their ZeltsitZ installation at ACL. An amalgamation of the German words for ‘tent’ and ‘seat’, the urban structures bring a sense of playfulness, allowing the viewer to occupy each sculpture via a hidden seat – a highly visual and Instagramable interaction.

Other artists selected to contribute to the event include Angus Muir and Alexandra Heaney who each dabble in permanent and temporary installations and mesmerising light sculptures; Louise Purvis, a sculptor of metal and stone with several public commissions under her belt whose recent works include elaborately caged rocks; Aaron McConchie, a multi-dimensional artist just as comfortable with crafting a state-of-the-art dog box as he is building a playground ‘island’ for adults; and Julieanne Eason, who uses video projections, sensors and audio to construct an environment.