Upcoming events

https://citygallery.org.nz/events/

BWB Winter Series: The Broken Estate?: The State of the New Zealand Media

Mon 27 August, 6pm | Free

Against a backdrop of economic pressures and fake news, join us for a discussion about the state of New Zealand and global media. The conversation will be led by young New Zealander Mel Bunce, who lectures on journalism at City, University of London.

In partnership with Bridget Williams Books.

Stroma: Iconic Sonics

Wed 29 August, 7.30pm | $30 / $20 / $10

Big works and bold sounds from revolutionary composers of the twentieth century — Witold Lutoslawski, György LIgeti, Kaija Saariaho, and Iannis Xenakis. Also featuring a new work by young New Zealand composer, Reuben Jelleyman.

Book now

Tuatara Open Late: Julia Deans, Suffrage 125 and new exhibitions after dark

Thu 6 September, 5–10pm | Entry by donation

Art, music, film, talks, beer, wine, food.

See our spring exhibitions Patrick Pound: On Reflection, Iconography of Revolt, and Arwa Alneami: Never Never Land after dark.

This month we continue our legacy of presenting strong female voices with a live performance from singer songwriter Julia Deans. We celebrate Suffrage 125 with the feature film Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer and bitter-sweet short films by upcoming Saudi directors, Nada Al-Mojadedi's Zaina's Cake and Hanaa Saleh Alfassi's Lollipop.

Plus a tour of new exhibition Patrick Pound: On Reflection.

Weekend Exhibition Tours

Saturdays and Sundays, 12.15pm | Free

Get more out of your visit with a 40-minute introduction to the exhibitions. Meet at the main foyer.

Current exhibitions https://citygallery.org.nz/exhibitions/

Iconography of Revolt

Until 14 November, Free

Iconography of Revolt showcases some of the ways revolt and revolution, protest and insurrection, have been pictured in art, film, and elsewhere, from the Bolsheviks to the Black Panthers to Pussy Riot, from the barricades to the catwalk. It asks how images of revolt challenge us, but also how they have been absorbed into culture.

Patrick Pound: On Reflection

11 August – 4 November, Free

Avid collector and artist Patrick Pound shuffles his private collections with Te Papa’s, continuing to invert the typical power dynamic between artist and institution. Constantly playing on ideas about mirroring and the double, the show is organised as a vast palindrome or Rorschach test. Is there method in this madness?

Arwa Alneami: Never Never Land (exhibition for Suffrage 125)

11 August – 4 November, Free

New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote, making 2018 the 125-year anniversary of women's suffrage. To mark the occasion, City Gallery presents the work of a woman artist from the last country to give women the vote, Saudi Arabia. Arwa Alneami is a key figure in Saudi Arabian art, exhibiting in and increasingly beyond the Kingdom. Her very presence as a contemporary artist challenges the restrictions her country places on female self-expression, as does her work.

Never Never Land (2014) consists of surreptitiously made videos and photos of women spending their evenings at an amusement park in Abha where their experiences are constantly policed by a strict set of rules, prohibiting screaming and wardrobe malfunctions. One video shows women—who were only later permitted to drive on the road—driving dodgem cars, sometimes carefully, sometimes recklessly, bumping into each other with illicit delight. Another finds them muting their shrieks on the Drop Zone, while holding down their abayas. In a country where activism is curtailed, Alneami offers a wry commentary on the position of women.

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