On now at the New Zea­l­and Academy of Fine Arts the install­a­tion ‘Hall of the Unre­cog­nised’ cel­eb­rates the inaug­ur­al Nation­al Coun­cil of Women which first met in Christ­ch­urch on 13 April 1896. The install­a­tion is part of the Solo 36 group show. It’s an inter­est­ing and pro­vok­ing exhib­i­tion con­sid­er­ing the cur­rent debate around rape and rape cul­ture in NZ.

solo 36 pendants
The aim of the NCW was to ‘unite all organ­ised Soci­et­ies of Women for mutu­al coun­sel and co-oper­a­tion, and in the attain­ment of justice and free­dom for women, and for all that makes for the good of human­ity’. Justine Fletcher’s install­a­tion offers an oppor­tun­ity to con­sider these 25 women as indi­vidu­als – highly motiv­ated, pas­sion­ate and gen­er­ous, a cen­tury later we have much in com­mon with them and their agenda to work in a prac­tic­al man­ner to bring about reform legis­lat­ively so women and men had equal rights.

solo 36 aprons

The install­a­tion also offers a fun­drais­ing oppor­tun­ity for Wel­ling­ton Rape Crisis who due to an ongo­ing lack of adequate fund­ing, once again find them­selves strug­gling to sur­vive and sup­port those who need their help. We also owe these women much. 50% of all sales (after gal­lery com­mis­sion) will go to Wel­ling­ton Rape Crisis.

Justine along with her part­ner Gio­vanni is behind Knack mar­ket, which oper­ates as a fun­draiser for Ber­ham­pore School and an out­let for emer­ging and estab­lished crafters and artists to sell and show­case their cre­ations. Krist­mas Knack is on tomor­row Sat­urday Novem­ber 16th at Ber­ham­pore School 105 Brito­mart Street