Past Exhibitions

Transit Of Venus

6 Jun - 4 Jul 2004

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Artists

Exhibition Works

Mermaid And Navigator (2003) A/P (back view)
Paul Dibble Mermaid And Navigator (2003) A/P (back view)
Undisclosed Mysteries
Garry Currin Undisclosed Mysteries (2004)
Beach (2004)
Ross Ritchie Beach (2004)
Transit of Venus III
Elizabeth Rees Transit of Venus III (2004)
If We Could Get Close To Love & Beauty:  Transit Of Venus (2004)
Nigel Brown If We Could Get Close To Love & Beauty: Transit Of Venus (2004)
Life
Nigel Brown Life
Obsolete Transit Of Venus
Nigel Brown Obsolete Transit Of Venus (2004)
Shore Lines (nd)
Graham Bennett Shore Lines (nd)
Pohutakawa Leaf Brooch (2004)
Areta Wilkinson Pohutakawa Leaf Brooch (2004)
Pohutakawa Spray Brooch (2004)
Areta Wilkinson Pohutakawa Spray Brooch (2004)
Pohutakawa Aerial Roots Brooch (2004)
Areta Wilkinson Pohutakawa Aerial Roots Brooch (2004)
Pohutakawa Twig Brooch (2004)
Areta Wilkinson Pohutakawa Twig Brooch (2004)
Halley
Peter James Smith Halley
Wind Across The Great Southern Ocean (1998)
Peter James Smith Wind Across The Great Southern Ocean (1998)
Awaiting Fair Winds (2004) Detail
Marissa Bradley Awaiting Fair Winds (2004) Detail
Secret Voyage
Marissa Bradley Secret Voyage (2004)
Wahine III
Grant Whibley Wahine III (2004)
For Ever 2 (2004)
John Nicol For Ever 2 (2004)

Exhibition Text

The transit of Venus is one of the most significant events in New Zealand’s formative history. It was this in 1769 that bought Capt. Cook to the South Pacific and then to charting New Zealand. Therefore the transit of Venus has had an extraordinary role and impact upon New Zealand’s social, cultural and political circumstance and history.

On June 8, 2004 Venus will pass across the face of the sun for about six hours. This once-in-120 year event will be visible in Europe and will happen while New Zealand is in darkness.

A three venue exhibition (Auckland, Dunedin, Queenstown) is being held both to commemorate this very important event in our history and to provide leading artists with the opportunity to examine and consider this from a variety of perspectives, points of view and time-lines.

There are many subjects and narratives to be examined. For example, it reminds us that Maori as the first explorers of the south crossed the Pacific to reach these shores as much by navigation with the stars as through the use of wind, currents and tides. So the transit is a much larger event and story than merely that of science to New Zealand.

There is also something of an irony in the coming event in that on this occasion one of the most pivotal events in New Zealand’s formative history will not be seen from these shores but from Britain and Europe. The world as we have come to know it will be upside down on June 8, 2004.