Overview
Kermadec - Nine artists explore the South Pacific, currently on at the New Zealand Maritime Museum, showcases a diverse collection of artworks relating to these little known islands. The primary goal of the artists involved is to raise awareness about the fragility of this remarkable place.
Located between the North Island and Tonga, the region is home to some of the world’s most diverse wildlife and marine life and recent exploration has revealed that it is part of a 2,500 km chain of mostly underwater volcanoes – this line of mountains is the longest underwater volcanic arc on the planet and the most hydrothermally alive.
Among the artists is well-established Niuean-born John Pule, whose beautiful exhibition Haunga (Arrivals) at the Auckland Art Gallery has been one of the artistic highlights of the summer. Others work in a variety of media and include painter John Reynolds, inter-media artist Phil Dadson, leading Australian sculptor and installation artist Fiona Hall, sculptor Elizabeth Thomson, Dame Robin White, documentary film-maker Bruce Foster, photographer Jason O'Haraand text-based artist and curator of the exhibition, Gregory O'Brien.
With the support of the Pew Environment Group, the artists journeyed to the Kermadecs in May 2011 and were based on Raoul Island. They explored and imagined the Polynesian voyagers, adventurers and scientists who had traversed this remote region before them. Each artist found their own “Kermadec voice” and this resulting body of work illustrates their commitment to both confront the issues that threaten this pristine environment and also to alert New Zealanders and audiences around the world of the urgent need to safeguard this remarkable marine environment. So go along and be part of the debate.