Better than Christmas morning was how this non fashionista* described Monday morning at Te Papa when Tom and I witnessed Keira Miller from London’s Victoria & Albert Museum unpacking an embroidered silk satin wedding dress designed by Norman Hartnell in 1933. Keira is in Wellington to supervise the unpacking and setting up of Unveiled: 200 years […]
The general election is only a few weeks away, but right now there’s another important vote happening. Yes, the vote on what sign will sit atop the Miramar Cutting. There are three options: The controversial and largely disliked “Wellywood” sign “Wellington” written in a similar Hollywood sign style, but with the final letters being blow […]
I’m old enough to remember when the Arts Festival was known archly as The New Zealand International Festival of the Arts. In recent years the name has been tidied up but the goal has remained the same – bring really cool, really great, international artists to Wellington and showcase their work alongside the best of […]
A year and a half ago we were offered a tantalising glimpse of the model of the Weta Workshop-designed Wellington rugby sculpture, noting its resemblance to a provincial junior rugby trophy, a knick-knack gift for a rugby-loving uncle, and a vagina. And then finally the full-size sculpture appeared, tucked away in Jack Ilott Green, that […]
Perched upon the top of Cuba St, Thistle Hall is known for providing Wellingtonians with short bursts of visual arts. Exhibits pack in and out again at a frenetic pace, and if planning and serendipity conspire, treasures can be easily missed. Take some time this week and get up to the current exhibit. Exquisite Corpse draws its name from […]
It’s WOW time again, and this year’s show is the most amazing and extravagant yet. But was it too extravagant this year? I’ll get to that later. Please note that this post will contain spoilers about the show, so if you’re going, don’t read it until afterwards okay? The Wellingtonista has a little pre-WOW game. […]
The Wellingtonista has been going along to the World of WearableArt show for the past three years, and we’ve come to have a bit of affection for the grand celebration of the extravagant mash-up of fashion, design and costumery that is wearable art. The WOW show and awards are coming a month early this year […]
The images of exploding fuel from Geoffrey H. Short’s exhibition Towards Another (Big Bang) Theory at {Suite} Gallery on Oriental Parade are immediately evocative to me of a number of different other imageries, occurring in roughly this order: of the US military napalming bits of Vietnam of Francis Ford Coppola napalming bits of the Phillipines […]
If you’re in the market for a real bona fide “Holy shit, look at that!” experience, try heading down to the eastern end of Abel Smith Street, opposite the Southern Cross. Where on the corner of Wigan Street there was once a Tattoo Museum (or this), with an imposing moai on the street front (image), […]
Solander Gallery: Works on Paper is Wellington’s contemporary works on paper gallery. I have a soft spot for printmaking and being a gallery that — not exclusively, mind — specialises in this discipline with a consistent rotation of strong shows from talented New Zealand printmakers, Solander has become a favourite space of mine to visit. They […]