Jack or Black by Erena Koopu student at ToihoukuraA week­end trip to the out­er reaches of Wel­ling­ton­ist cov­er­age ended with a crack­ing vis­it to Pataka at Pori­rua and in par­tic­u­lar the com­pre­hens­ive and thought pro­vok­ing ‘Sym­bols of Sov­er­eignty’ series.

Out­lining the extraordin­ary evol­u­tion of flags in New Zea­l­and this a series of five exhib­i­tions all with a flag theme:

  • JACK OR BLACK – A New Flag For The Nation?
    until 21st August. Explor­ing the debate that sur­rounds the issue of wheth­er or not New Zea­l­and should change its flag. This top­ic­al exhib­i­tion reaches into the heart of the issue by voicing the feel­ings of ‘ordin­ary’ New Zeal­anders.
    Vote for your favour­ite from the examples or add your own design to that of oth­ers.

  • NIU TIRENI – Paul Thompson
    until 21st August. Flags based on the signs and sym­bols of nine­teenth cen­tury Maori flags then pho­to­graphed in full flight.
  • FLAGWORKS
    until 11th Septem­ber. Cel­eb­rat­ing the icon­ic use of flag imagery in con­tem­por­ary New Zea­l­and art.
  • PROTEST AND CELEBRATION
    until 11th Septem­ber. Images by some of New Zeal­and’s lead­ing doc­u­ment­ary pho­to­graph­ers depict­ing flags being used in protest and cel­eb­ra­tion.
  • HISTORY UNFURLED
    until 16th Octo­ber. Evol­u­tion of flags through­out New Zealand’s short his­tory

This is a top­ic that has gen­er­ated a little heat with­in Wel­ling­tonista Towers and here’s a few oth­er links we’ve found that have assisted us in our disc­ssions: