Art and about with Naomi McCleary

People move on. It’s in the nature of modern life, and the arts world, that career paths take a trajectory through places and institutions. Change is good; it’s invigorating for individuals and institutions.

Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery is embracing such a change at the moment with the appointment of a new curator (Kaitiaki Whakaaturanga)

Chloe Geoghegan (pictured left) has moved, with her family, from Dunedin to Titirangi. Most recently the Curator Art for the pictorial collection at the Hocken Library, and previously the director of Dunedin’s Blue Oyster Art Project Space, she brings an impressive mix of experience and skills. Te Uru director, Andrew Clifford comments that, “she has worked with a range of independent contemporary spaces that have distinctive relationships to their communities, including running programmes in post-earthquake Christchurch.” This experience working with a wide range of stakeholders and cultural groups is where the fit with Te Uru promises much.

Chloe replaces outgoing curator, Ioana Gordon-Smith, who had been with Te Uru since the gallery opened in 2014 and who is now Curator Māori/Pacific for Pātaka in Porirua. Ioana has made a substantial contribution to shaping Te Uru’s programme over its first five years with a skilful blend of the challenging while maintaining accessibility. Some of Chloe’s more recent independent curatorial projects include Lost in Air (Poneke/Wellington), Abject Failures (Hastings City Arts Gallery) and Cul-de-sac (Melbourne). She is also a trustee for Contemporary HUM, a review platform for New Zealand artists working internationally. Chloe also has international experience including being selected for the 2016 Asia New Zealand/Creative New Zealand curator’s tour to China and Korea, attending the Independent Curators International (ICI) Fall Curatorial Intensive in New York in 2015, and undertaking part of her curatorship studies at the Ruskin School of Fine Arts at the University of Oxford in 2011.

She holds a BFA (Hons) from the University of Canterbury in Graphic Design and Art History, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Art Curatorship. “I am excited to be chosen for this role,” says Chloe. “Te Uru is an institution I have long aspired to work in, being a leading regional gallery within an exciting locale. Being situated in Titirangi, on the periphery of Auckland, is a unique position from which to think about exhibition-making and to develop a curatorial programme.

“I have watched Ioana work hard to establish a significant and successful programme at Te Uru and I have some big shoes to fill,” says Chloe. “I am enthusiastic about contributing to the next stage in the development of the gallery and joining the Titirangi community with my young family and meeting Te Uru’s audience and supporters.”

Susannah Bridges ceramic objects and lights

Play on

To add to the range of musical experiences out West, musicians from New Zealand Barok are bringing their first concert in a chamber music series called 4-3-2 to Old St Michael’s Church in the Corban Estate Arts Centre on Sunday March 29, from 2pm. This idyllic and intimate setting provides perfect acoustics for the one-hour concert of elegant, easylistening classical music.

This heralds a brand new musical partnership in the West, as well as an innovative approach to programming. All leading baroque specialists, the musicians interact with the audience by talking about the music they are performing and the instruments they play, breathing fresh life and vitality into baroque and classical masterpieces and lesser-known musical treasures from the 18th century. Graham McPhail (violin), Amelia Giles (violin), Alison Salmons (viola), and Helen Brinkman (cello) with guest Sally Tibbles (flute) will perform works by Boccherini and Mozart.

McPhail (pictured right) has been at the forefront of historical performance practice in New Zealand and along with Helen Brinkman, formed New Zealand Barok in 2004. His creative leadership has been pivotal in the success of New Zealand Barok’s 16 years of concerts throughout New Zealand.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to play smaller-scale chamber music in Old St Michaels Church, with its lovely acoustics,” he says. “The beautiful and serene atmosphere is very special and we’re really looking forward to performing there. And to trying out some novel programming, given the series starts off with quartets, then trios in August and finally with duos in November.”

Seating is limited. Book on iTICKET: www.iticket.co.nz, phone 361 1000. Tickets are $25. I recommend that you book for the concert, but allow time around it to explore the gallery exhibitions and shop and, depending on the weather, bring a picnic.

North-west

Hobsonville Point is celebrating the completion of the last of nine significant public artworks by launching the Didsbury Arts Trail; so named after Richard Didsbury of Brick Bay Sculpture Park fame. Richard was a director of the Hobsonville Land Company in the early years of the development and a staunch supporter of the importance of public art as part of the fabric of the area.

March 7 and 8 will be community days for folks to explore the artworks, aided by podcast interviews with the artists, and to have family fun with art workshops run by experienced community artists. www.hobsonvillepoint.co.nz/didsbury.