Tutere Collaborative
News
01
"Marking Time" Kate Hartmann
I was really honoured to win the Coastlands Open Award at the current Arotake Toi Exhibition at Toi Mahara. The award was selected from 50 others by Toi Mahara Patron, Darcy Nicholas. I wrote some words about the inspiration and process behind the work and share them here with you.
It started as my work usually does with a feeling. A nostalgic yearning for the past, simpler perhaps easier times. Russia invading Ukraine (now the Middle Eastern conflict), post pandemic haze, cost of living on the rise, social media polarisation, fear and misinformation. What is truth and what is not? A sense of heaviness and everything seemingly so complicated. The Doomsday Clock came to mind with its hands at 2 minutes to midnight.
I remembered I had put away a stash of old newspapers found during a house renovation a few years ago. They had been used to pack out the hot water cylinder and were from 1949 and 1950, old Dominion Posts. Beautifully patinaed with age. The graceful lines of the typography, precise and orderly running across the pages, the newspaper a trusted source of information back then. I started to read through the pages and was immediately struck by some differences but also many similarities to the present. Conflicts occurring around the globe, the Labour Party in trouble at the polls, advertisements promising to improve your appearance and ease the burden of living, people dying, children being born.
Some things change, some stay the same, but time constantly passing. This led to the idea for a central motif being a pocket watch of the era. Scale was important to me as I wanted the work to have a real presence and the watch to be oversized playing with illusions and what information is readily available to the viewer and what is hidden. The watch dissolving in parts also referring to a current preoccupation with the future and an almost deliberate erasure and nullification of the past.
The actual construction of the work happened relatively quickly from this point on.
Most of the hard work comes beforehand in the thought processing, researching and drawings refining the idea. Then it is about letting the materials speak and allowing the work to evolve as it wishes to. I was very pleased with how the work evolved.
02
December Workshops
We are excited to offer two fun workshops that require no experience and are extremely affordable before the end of the year.
The first making an ORIGAMI CHRISTMAS LILY complete with chocolate! Perfect last minute gift ideas for your friend or family member. $20 for the first flower, $10 per flower if you are wishing to compile a bouquet. This will be available on a drop in basis from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on the 16th and 17th of December.
The second workshop will be creating a COLLAGE POSTCARD. Come along and explore the joy of layering with various materials to create your own postcard or two. Again $20 will cover the cost of materials used. Drop in on 30 and 31 December to have a play!
03
Upcoming Exhibition
We are pleased to present Mariana Collette's "Princess Sweetheart" exhibition in the main gallery space. Mariana Collette is a painter working in acrylics and oils. She creates striking contemporary paintings inspired by narrative, color and form. The show will open 28 December 2023 through to 07 January 2024.
04
Main Gallery Space Rental
Looking to get your work out there and searching for a dedicated gallery space in Kāpiti that can do it? Then look no further. Also a perfect space for a combined group show. With high foot traffic and summer here, you will be guaranteed an audience. The space is available now for bookings from a one week minimum to a maximum of four. Very reasonable rates of $100 per week (that is a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday period) which equates to $25 a day! And a low commission of 25% on works sold, why wouldn't you commit to that! Curatorial assistance is available if you require. It is an expectation that artists will manage the space themselves but coverage can be arranged at an extra cost.
05
100 Days a Journey
Our 2023 group have done the mahi and now enjoy the treats! The exhibition for 100 Days a Journey 2023 opens at Te Auaha, 65 Dixon Street in Wellington on 07 December 2023 and runs through until 16 January 2024. The opening celebration is on Friday 08 December 2023 at 5:30 pm. All welcome.
100 Days a Journey is a program targeted specifically for creatives, those seeking MORE for themselves both professionally and personally. The 100 day project phenomenon has been popping up around the globe for years. The premise 'do something creative every day for 100 days' is something an individual can tackle solely at any time but one of the major issues artists struggle with is working in isolation and even the most disciplined artist can struggle to stay on track when they are only accountable to themselves.100 Days a Journey is a program offered by Kapiti Coast based, Tutere Collaborative, and has been refined and developed over the past seven years. This year 14 artists completed their own journey joining over 70 participants so far from the Wellington Region.
An important part of the program is the celebratory group exhibition at the end of an intense three months. Led by mentors Kate Hartmann and Anna Layzell in 2023 we are proud to showcase a selection of work from: Perla Gaffney, Kim Entwisle, Sandra Smillie, Rochelle Gore, Sandy Seymour, Rome Lopez-Diaz, Caitlin Reilly, Angela Evans-Morgan, Liz Stretton, Anne Brunt and Brian Holt.
06
Creative Mixers
It's pretty hard staying connected these days, yes there is the ability to do that online but nothing beats actually sitting down with a fellow creative and having a good old chat and seeing the actual work physically. And what if you are interested in collaborative opportunities and meeting others with differing disciplines. Here in Kapiti we also face challenges due to the nature of our towns being spread out and no central physical connection point. So we thought let's do something about that....
Introducing 'Creative Mixers'! An opportunity for the creatives in our district to come together and connect.
Our next get together will be on Saturday 27 January 2024 between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.
Would be awesome to see you at one of these upcoming mixers!
