Into Ocean & Ice: Unveiling Antarctica's Past And Present

The New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa is excited to announce Into Ocean & Ice, its newest exhibition transporting visitors through Antarctica’s dramatic past and threatened future. The exhibition will open on 29 November 2024 and runs until 31 August 2025. It showcases the heroic era of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic exploration, where the crew of his sunken ship survived by clinging to floating ice for five months.

The exhibition is divided into two parts. The first introduces four emerging Aotearoa artists who share their own interpretations of this remote region, where warming oceans and melting glaciers are a stark reminder of our world’s threatened state. Artists Tegan Allpress (Rongowhakaata), Peregrin Hyde (Ngāti Maniapoto), Rose Lasham, and Charlie Thomas travelled to South Georgia last year as part of the Antarctic Heritage Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expedition™, a journey in honour of 100 years since Shackleton’s final expedition, The Quest. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity allowed the artists to experience the rich wildlife and epic glacial landscape of South Georgia, where Shackleton met his fate, signifying the end of the heroic era of Antarctic exploration.

22-year-old Charlie Thomas says visiting South Georgia - the very place once explored by Shackleton - was truly humbling.

“Growing up, I was captivated by stories of expeditions and wild, remote places, but this experience pushed me into the uncomfortable and unknown in a way I hadn’t expected. South Georgia challenged my perspective on my own life, urging me to think and act in new ways. That, to me, is what true exploration feels like," says Thomas.

Through photos, paintings, sculpture and video, Into Ocean & Ice explores the icy continent as the artists see it today while honouring Shackleton’s legacy.

Tegan Allpress says, “South Georgia profoundly changed my photography practice and the way I connect with Te Taiao (the natural world). I heard the call of our precious planet so loud and clear; we must do better, we must protect the voiceless.”

The second part of the exhibition features the work of Italian artist Paola Folicaldi Suh, who reimagines Shackleton’s iconic 1914–1917 Endurance expedition, one of the most dramatic survival stories in Antarctic history.

Inspired by Frank Hurley’s original photographs, Paola’s paintings portray the journey of Shackleton and his crew as their ship became trapped and crushed by Antarctic pack ice, and their gruelling 36-hour trek across South Georgia that ultimately saved them. Displayed alongside Paola’s paintings are reproductions of Hurley’s photographs, stories from Shackleton’s time, and the original Aurora logbook, documenting the vessel’s role in Shackleton’s 1914–1916 Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Vincent Lipanovich, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited Director of the New Zealand Maritime Museum, says Into Ocean & Ice speaks to the spirit of exploration, but it also reminds us of our responsibility to conserve these extraordinary places.

“We’re proud to share Shackleton’s legacy alongside the voices of our emerging artists, who offer a fresh perspective on what it means to protect these remote environments.”

Into Ocean & Ice exhibition opens to the public at the New Zealand Maritime Museum on 29 November 2024. Admission to the exhibition is free with museum entry.

Opening weekend special events include:

• A free, public celebration on the evening of Friday 29 with the artists in attendance and talks the following day from the young explorers about their journey.
• A microphotography workshop with artist Peregrin Hyde particularly for children.
• For more information and to register, head to: https://www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/events/into-ocean-and-ice-or-opening-weekend

Notes:

• Where: New Zealand Maritime Museum, corner of Quay & Hobson Streets, Viaduct Harbour
• When: 29 November 2024 – 31 August 2025
• Cost: Free with museum entry (museum entry is free for Auckland residents)
• Bookings required? No
• For more info: https://www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/exhibitions/into-ocean-and-ice

About New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa

The Maritime Museum, part of Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, is where stories of people and the sea are preserved, shared, and explored. Aotearoa is one of the most maritime nations in the world and the museum houses one of the nation's most important heritage collections, covering the breadth of our relationship with te moana; from the Great Pacific Migration a thousand years ago to the cutting edge of technology and design used in America's Cup and modern yachting.

About Tātaki Auckland Unlimited

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited is Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland's cultural and economic agency committed to making our region a desirable place to live, work, visit, invest and do business. New Zealand Maritime Museum is one of the substantive cultural institutions that TAU owns, operates, and maintains for the benefit of Auckland. Aucklandunlimited.com

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