Article

By MSVA & Te Tuhi | 14 September 2009

Mura o te ahi/The heat of the fire

Mura o te ahi is an innovative new exhibition project jointly developed by Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts and the Manukau School of Visual Arts at the Manukau Institute of Technology. The exhibition consists of seven short-term projects that will occur at Te Tuhi's project space from 2-27 September.

The project is the result of Te Tuhi's new Director and Curator's desire to develop a collaborative project with the School, with which the Gallery has a long-standing relationship. Lecturers at MSVA saw this as an opportunity to assist students to present their work to a wide public audience in a prestigious venue and for students to learn necessary professional skills.

They have developed an approach that places emphasis on students being encouraged to experiment with ideas and extend their developing artistic practices. It draws on the energy and fire of the students and staff at both institutions and their commitment to showing new work by student artists.

The students benefited from extensive mentoring from MSVA lecturers and Te Tuhi curators that helped them to develop their ideas into strong projects for the gallery. In that process they learned a great deal about what it means to present their work in a public setting as well as additional ways of understanding their own artistic vision. This extends the students' learning space into the gallery itself.

An additional aspect of the project is that MSVA students will hold discussion classes in the gallery. Members of the public are welcome to attend and participate in these events.

The seven projects that make up Mura o te ahi are a chance to see exiting new work by a diverse group of students from MSVA.

4-7 September: Sylvia Nelson and Caroline Griffin: 2DRAW3
Discussion class: Monday 7 September, 11am.

9-11 September: Lucy Pierpoint: Token Gesture
Discussion class: Friday 11 September, 11am.

13-16 September: Penitoa Finau: Hikoi
Discussion class: Monday 14 September 11am.

18-19 September: Anna Scott: Lite experiment
Discussion class: Friday 14 September, 11am

20 September 11am: Penny Lin
Discussion class: Sunday 20 September, 11am.

22-24 September: Benny Chan, Soo Eun Lee, Grace Tai: Illuminated illusions
Discussion class: Monday 21 September, 11am.

26-28 September: Paula Thornborrow: nu'ó'c
Discussion class: Monday 28 September, 11am.