In The News:
On Monday, December 4 2012 RadioLive hosts Karyn Hay and Andrew Fagin talked to Selwyn Manning about the making of his doco Behind The Shroud.
RadioLive: Selwyn Manning talks to Karyn Hay & Andrew fagin about his documentary film Behind The Shroud that looks at why suspected security threat Ahmed Zaoui was set free, and how testimony in the documentary indicates why the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service got this case so wrong.
Investigative Documentary: Behind The Shroud Released.
December 04, 2012: Ten years has now passed since Algerian politician Ahmed Zaoui arrived in New Zealand seeking asylum. But what assurances have we been given to ensure our intelligence agencies do not fail tax payers again?
Journalist and director of the investigative documentary film Behind The Shroud, Selwyn Manning, said after ten years since Zaoui arrived at Auckland International Airport claiming to be a legitimate refugee – where he was accused by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) of being terrorist – the public is none the wiser as to why he was finally allowed to live freely in this country.
Ahmed Zaoui arrived in New Zealand on December 2, 2002 and was immediately detained under terrorism suppression laws.
In 2003, the SIS issued New Zealand’s first security risk certificate deeming Ahmed Zaoui a threat to New Zealand’s national security. He was then imprisoned for almost two years (including ten months in solitary confinement in Paremoremo maximum security prison). He experienced years of being vilified in the Parliament by Cabinet Ministers and MPs, and he was considered a dangerous extremist by thousands of Kiwis.
Suddenly in 2007, the Director of Security Dr Warren Tucker informed New Zealanders Zaoui was no longer a threat.
“But after costing tax payers in excess of $4million, what the Director of Security did not tell New Zealanders was why the intelligence agency got this asylum seeker case so wrong,” Selwyn Manning said.
“The way this case ended left a raft of unanswered questions.
“Why was it that in 2007 the New Zealand Government canceled its security risk certificate against the refugee? Why after years fighting in the High Court and Court of Appeal the SIS and the Government dropped their case? Who or what caused the Government to back down?
“In short, officially, the public were denied an explanation as to why Ahmed Zaoui and his family were suddenly invited to live in peace in New Zealand,” Selwyn Manning said.
Finally, after five years of investigation, the documentary film Behind The Shroud answers many of the unanswered questions and has now been released to the public.
The documentary goes deep into the backstory of Zaoui’s experience, investigates why the NZSIS cancelled its security risk certificate, and makes public for the first time interviews with two secret witnesses who each gave testimony at classified hearings held by Justice Paul Neazor, New Zealand’s Inspector General of Intelligence and Security.
“The revelations of Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Samraoui, the Algeria regime’s former head of intelligence and counter-espionage in north Europe, and Professor George Joffe, the UK’s expert on north Africa affairs from Cambridge University, both reveal why Zaoui was considered an enemy of his homeland, why Algeria launched a black-flag operation against him, and why he would likely be executed should he return to Algeria,” Selwyn Manning said.
He said: “The testimonies offer compelling evidence of how totalitarian regimes work to destroy or neutralise their opponents.
“The testimony presented in this documentary also lays bare how our intelligence agencies in New Zealand failed to accurately assess whether information supplied by France, Belgium and Switzerland could be relied on, or whether it had been corrupted by disinformation created by Algeria’s military intelligence agency the DRS,” Selwyn Manning said.
The documentary Behind The Shroud presents a critique as to whether New Zealand’s intelligence agencies’ external assessments are serving our public and national interest.
Experts interviewed include: Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wilkie, former senior intelligence officer and adviser to prime minister John Howard; Dr Paul Buchanan, former US security analyst; and the late Graeme Hunt, journalist and historian. These three men argue intelligence agency reform is necessary.
Others, like former politicians Hon Matt Robson and Green MP Keith Locke give a commanding appraisal of how the New Zealand Government became compliant to a disinformation campaign masterminded by Algeria, a foreign authoritarian regime.
“Surely, after ten years, the New Zealand public deserves to know why tax payer money to the tune of over $4million was wasted. Additionally, Kiwis deserve to be assured that such a huge mistake in both fiscal and human terms will not and can not happen again,” Selwyn Manning said.
For more on the documentary Behind The Shroud, including a list of the full cast and trailer, see www.LoneWolfFilmsNZ.com.
In The News:
On Saturday, November 10 2012, Prominent journalist, broadcaster and media personality Russell Brown interviewed Behind The Shroud director Selwyn Manning on Top Shelf Productions’ Media3 programme on TV3.
Russell Brown explores why the documentary has relevance in contemporary times, how Selwyn Manning managed to acquire testimony from Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Samraoui – Algeria’s former intelligence head for north Europe, and how the public can get to see this important documentary.
LoneWolfFilms NZ thanks Russell Brown, Top Shelf Productions and TV3 for the webcasting of this interview. Also: You can watch the full Media3 episode on TV3’s One Demand platform.
MIL OSI – Source: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – Press Release/Statement
Headline: The Govett-Brewster showcases rarely seen sculpture from its collection
Lisa Reihana Colour of Sin: Headcase Version 2005. Courtesy the artist
Singular Companions: Sculpture from the Collection (1 December 2012 – 27 January 2013) presents works that are either new to the Govett-Brewster’s collection or have not been on display to the public for many years.
Sculptural form is paramount in this exhibition with works that are cast, assembled, recycled, woven, thrown, carved, welded, illuminated or gilded.
New Zealand and international artists employ a wide variety of materials in their work from drift nets, beeswax and timber to copper, ceramic, neon, marble, fibreglass, re-purposed plastic bottles and sound.
The Govett-Brewster Collection began in the 1960s prior to the Gallery’s 1970 opening and continues to expand to the present day. It is a modest yet significant collection with an emphasis on contemporary art from New Zealand and the Pacific that reflects the focused attention of subsequent directors. Collection strengths include conceptual and abstract art from the 1970s and 1980s, with recent expansions in its photographic, Maori and Pacific holdings.
Govett-Brewster Director Rhana Devenport says that in the exhibition more than 20 works from the Govett-Brewster’s Collection are grouped as new companions in each of the five rooms.
“The works explore discrete ideas and material concerns including repurposed materials, illumination, domestic ciphers, social customs, the containment of memory, measure, weight and weightlessness,” Ms Devenport says.
“The exhibition spans more than four decades of making and registers each artist’s particular sculptural interests. These differ markedly, from the feminist concerns of Mary-Louise Browne to the environmental considerations of Andrew Drummond and Laurelle Pookamelya, from Filipe Tohi’s complex patterned abstraction to the investigation of perception by Paul Hartigan and Neil Dawson. It is also a pleasure to present recent additions to the collection by artists Lisa Reihana, Laurelle Pookamelya, Bill Culbert and Lauren Winstone alongside important yet rarely seen works from our holdings.”
The exhibiting artists are: Mary-Louise Browne, Bill Culbert, Neil Dawson, Don Driver, Andrew Drummond, Karl Fritsch and Gavin Hipkins, Paul Hartigan, Christine Hellyar, John Ward Knox, Laurelle Pookamelya, Lisa Reihana, Peter Robinson, Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi, Lauren Winstone and Yin Xiuzhen.
Also opening at the Govett-Brewster is Len Lye: The New Yorker, an exhibition exploring Lye’s early years in New York – between his arrival in 1944 and the emergence of his kinetic sculpture, or ‘tangibles’, in the early 1960s. The exhibition Len Lye: The New Yorker opens at the Govett-Brewster in New Plymouth on 1 December 2012 and continues to 27 January 2013.
ENDS
Image caption: Lisa Reihana Colour of Sin: Headcase Version 2005. Courtesy the artist
For more information, high resolution images and to arrange interviews please contact:
Felicity Connell
Communications Manager
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
felicityc@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6715
Kelly Wells
Communications Coordinator
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
kellyw@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6717
www.govettbrewster.com Twitter @GovettBrewster
http://www.facebook.com/govettbrewster
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MIL OSI – Source: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – Press Release/Statement
Headline: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery releases its new publication Laurence Aberhart: Recent Taranaki Photographs
Laurence Aberhart: Recent Taranaki Photographs publication cover
This beautiful new publication Laurence Aberhart: Recent Taranaki Photographs is published to accompany the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery exhibition of the same name.
All works from Laurence Aberhart: Recent Taranaki Photographs are reproduced, accompanied by earlier Taranaki works produced by the artist and held in the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Collection.
Laurence Aberhart’s photographs are among the most respected and memorable artworks produced in Aotearoa New Zealand over the last four decades.
In Recent Taranaki Photographs, Aberhart is absorbed in capturing the architecture and landscapes that we may barely notice or see ourselves. His black and white photographs explore the land we inhabit and the memories embedded in the relationship between natural and built forms.
A long term visitor to Taranaki over the course of his career, Aberhart acknowledges his love of the region and his determination to produce new works in a landscape that constantly intrigues.
Three new essays are presented alongside a recent interview conducted with the artist by Govett-Brewster Director Rhana Devenport. Ron Lambert explores the stories and connections between Aberhart’s photographs and the landscape they record. Assistant Curator Len Lye, Paul Brobbel reconsiders the prevailing view of Aberhart’s photographs as works of melancholy while Peter Ireland explores the notions of ‘truth’ and ‘beauty’ in Aberhart’s photography.
Assistance with the production of Laurence Aberhart: Recent Taranaki Photographs has been generously offered by people and organisations throughout Taranaki and beyond. The exhibition and publication have been made possible with support from Ken Horner and the Lysaght-Watt Trust, the Govett-Brewster Foundation and the TSB Community Trust.
The exhibition of Laurence Aberhart: Recent Taranaki Photographs was presented at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery 3 March – 17 June 2012 and toured to Fritz Reuter Gallery, Inglewood 22 June – 22 July 2012, Percy Thomson Gallery, Stratford 2 – 26 August, Aotea Utanganui – Museum of South Taranaki, Pātea 14 September – 21 October and Lysaght-Watt Gallery, Hawera 8 November – 2 December 2012.
This book is available for purchase at the Govett-Brewster Art and Design Shop and selected book stores.
Published by Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
September 2012
ISBN: 978-0-908848-53-9
Paperstock: Mohawk Superfine, New Silk Matt
69 pages
6 colour images, 44 black and white images
English
Edition: 400
Dimensions: 230mm x 230mm
NZD$33
For more information, high resolution images and to arrange interviews please contact:
Felicity Connell
Communications Manager
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
felicityc@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6715
Kelly Wells
Communications Coordinator
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
kellyw@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6717
www.govettbrewster.com Twitter @GovettBrewster
http://www.facebook.com/govettbrewster Change contact details
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MIL OSI – Source: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – Press Release/Statement
Headline: All Systems Go for Len Lye Centre
Architect’s impression of the Len Lye Centre
New Plymouth District Council has succeeded in securing the $10 million required to build a world centre for the works of celebrated New Zealand artist Len Lye.
The Len Lye Centre will operate as a combined facility with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.
Tenders will be called in late October with a goal to start construction in February 2013. The targeted opening date for the new facility is early 2015.
New Plymouth District Mayor Harry Duynhoven says: “This is fantastic news. The funding is now committed and we can go ahead and create a landmark building displaying the inspirational creations of one of New Zealand’s most celebrated innovators.
“I’ve no doubt the end product will be remarkable and will attract national and international tourists, and importantly, the building of the centre will contribute further to economic growth. A substantial infrastructure project of this kind is especially important for New Plymouth in the current economic climate.”
Hon. Christopher Finlayson, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage says: “This is an outstanding project for New Zealand. The Government is fully supportive of initiatives such as the Len Lye Centre that both recognise our cultural pioneers and contribute significantly to the culture and economy of the future.”
The $10 million targeted for construction has been committed as follows:
• $1m – TSB Community Trust, committed in 2009
• $4m – Ministry for Arts Culture and Heritage Regional Museum Policy Fund, 2011
• $0.5m – Lotteries’ Environment and Heritage Fund, 2011
• $3m – Todd Energy, 2011
• $0.2m – private donors, 2012
• Underwrite of the remaining required amount – TSB Community Trust, 2012
Hayden Wano, Chair TSB Community Trust, says: “The TSB Community Trust agreed to underwrite the remaining funds for the $10 million capital construction cost to progress this important project for Taranaki. The commitment by the trust gives a further two and a half years to raise the rest of the funds.”
NPDC Chief Executive Barbara McKerrow says: “We are extremely thankful to all our partners for sharing of our vision of a world centre for Len Lye. The Len Lye Centre will enhance the care, display, and research of the work of Len Lye and will be the best place in the world for audiences to experience his influential art and ideas.
“This is the result of a successful thirty year relationship between New Plymouth and Len Lye that began with the first Len Lye exhibition here at the Govett-Brewster in 1977 that led to his entire Collection and Archive, owned by the Len Lye Foundation, being housed at the Gallery since 1980.”
“Our aim is to keep fundraising and remove the need for the TSB Community Trust underwrite. We are in discussions with other major corporates and hope to make more announcements of support soon. We also know there are many people around the country and overseas who would like to support this project in big and small ways. There is now a Len Lye Centre Trust which is accepting donations.”
Todd Energy’s total contribution of $3 million is for the capital construction of the Len Lye Centre and is the largest single corporate arts donation to date in New Zealand. In recognition of this, Todd Energy will be the sole founding partner of the Len Lye Centre and will also become the naming partner for both the Todd Energy Foyer and Todd Energy Learning Centre in the Len Lye Centre.
Todd Energy Chief Executive Paul Moore says: “Todd Energy is committed to the growth of Taranaki and to investing in the local community. We believe the Len Lye Centre will be a valuable asset for New Plymouth and for New Zealand and we look forward to being a part of it.”
Says Mrs McKerrow: “The engineering expertise available here is one of the aspects that initially attracted Lye to New Plymouth, and this project will further enhance Taranaki’s reputation as a centre for engineering excellence.”
In addition to building the Len Lye Centre, the Council will also address three other pieces of work required at the Govett-Brewster:
• Earthquake strengthening.
• Deferred renewals work including improvements to climate control.
• To upgrade non-compliance with health and safety standards.
“We’ll aim to do them all at once. Wrapping all four elements into a single contract is the most cost effective option,” says Mrs McKerrow.
General Manager Infrastructure Anthony Wilson says: “We’ll effectively be killing two birds with one stone – building the Len Lye Centre and improving the ability of the Govett-Brewster, which was recently confirmed as earthquake-prone, to withstand earthquakes.
“Regardless of whether the Len Lye Centre was being built, we would still have had to undertake earthquake strengthening for the Govett-Brewster. Were it not for the centre, it’s likely the earthquake strengthening at the gallery would have been considerably more difficult and expensive.”
Internationally recognised architectural firm Patterson Associates, who have designed the Len Lye Centre, have integrated the required earthquake strengthening work into the overall project.
“The architects’ detailed designs for the Len Lye Centre have been recently been assessed by independent quantity surveyors as being within the $10 million budget for construction,” says Mr Wilson.
The earthquake strengthening, deferred renewals work and health and safety improvements will be funded from depreciation reserves at the Govett-Brewster.
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Director Rhana Devenport says: “The new combined facility will offer a unique and complimentary programme of exhibitions and public engagement. The facility will share a management team and operating costs as well as the education suite, the cinema, galleries and the Art and Design Shop and cafe.
“This development will enhance the Gallery’s already strong position as one of the leading contemporary art museums in New Zealand.”
Says Len Lye Committee Chairperson Lance Girling-Butcher: “The recent successful production of ‘Len Lye: the opera’ in Auckland further demonstrates the strong interest in Len Lye, his life and work.
“The Govett-Brewster is working with the City Gallery in Wellington on a major exhibition showcasing Lye’s work for early 2013. The gallery is also planning an important exhibition with Mangere Arts Centre in South Auckland that will celebrate Lye’s Pacific influences, and the influences that he continues to have on contemporary artists today.”
Notes for Editors
TSB Community Trust
The TSB Community Trust was formed in 1988 as a charitable trust, the owner and sole shareholder of TSB Bank Limited.
As the sole shareholder of TSB Bank, each year the Trust receives a dividend from the Bank that it can distribute towards “charitable, cultural, philanthropic, recreational and other purposes beneficial to the community, principally in Taranaki”.
Todd Energy
Todd Energy is a leading energy explorer and producer focused on meeting New Zealand’s energy demands well into the future. Todd Energy is part of The Todd Corporation one of New Zealand’s largest and most successful companies. Today, Todd Energy holds interests in producing fields that account for approximately 80 per cent of New Zealand’s annual hydrocarbon production. Todd Energy has made a strong commitment to the province of Taranaki, where it has operated for more than 50 years and is a significant employer in the area. The Company also invests directly in community-based initiatives with the aim to benefit the social well-being of the people living and visiting the region. Todd Energy’s other community partnerships include WOMAD, the Todd Energy Aquatic Centre, the Coastguard vessel ‘Todd Energy Rescue’, as well as various community projects in the areas where it operates.
Proposed dates for Expressions of Interest and tender process
• By 1 October 2012 New Plymouth District Council will advertise the expressions of interest (EOI) document through TenderLink. TenderLink is a gateway to advertise tenders throughout Australia and New Zealand. TenderLink is used by all levels of government, and the private and public sectors.
• 12 October 2012 – expressions of interest close.
• By 19 October the EOIs will be evaluated using the weighted attribute method and successful contractors will be advised who will be invited to go to tender.
• Tender documents to be collated and mailed/couriered to successful contractors on Friday 26 October 2012 to arrive on Monday morning 29 October 2012.
• 26 November 2012, tenders close and evaluation process started.
• 10 December 2012, tender awarded.
Len Lye
Len Lye (1901-1980) is one of the most important artists to have emerged from New Zealand. Legendary amongst experimental filmmakers, his ‘direct’ films made by painting and scratching on celluloid were part of Lye’s prescient vision for a new ‘art of movement’. His dynamic, motorised steel sculptures of the 1960s express a creative energy that Lye brought to film, painting, photography and poetry. The Len Lye Collection and Archive has been housed and cared for by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in partnership with the Len Lye Foundation since 1980.
Lye’s sculptures are included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Berkeley Art Museum. His films are held primarily at the New Zealand Film Archive in Wellington and also in archives at the British Film Institute; Museum of Modern Art, New York City; the Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Lye’s 45m-high kinetic sculpture Wind Wand has featured on New Plymouth’s Coastal Walkway since 2000, and Water Whirler has featured on Wellington’s waterfront since 2006.
Patterson Associates
Patterson Associates are acknowledged as New Zealand’s most internationally recognised architects. Established by Andrew Patterson in 1996, the firm is committed to sustainable methodology, innovative use of materials and creating simple, beautiful projects that encourage people to engage on many levels. Their projects range from complex developments and urban infrastructure through to bespoke residential homes and three-dimensional strategic thinking
Pattersons are multiple recipients of The New Zealand Institute of Architects’ NZ Supreme Award for Architecture. Pattersons designed the Michael Hill Clubhouse in Wakatipu which was selected as one of the nine best sports and leisure buildings in the world at the Barcelona World Architecture Festivalin 2008. Another of Pattersons’ recent projects, the Geyser building in Auckland, has achieved New Zealand’s first six Green Star –Design certified rating. Six stars signify world innovation in sustainability.
In May 2011 Patterson Associates was named by the world’s most searched Architectural Journal World Architecture News in their 21 for 21 programme as one of five international architectural practices that are “set to shape the future of architecture in the 21st Century”.
Patterson Associates have engaged New Plymouth architectural and engineering firms Chapman Oulsnam Speirs to assist with the project.
The Len Lye Centre
The Len Lye Centre is a partnership between NPDC and the Len Lye Foundation. It will be operated as a combined facility with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and will offer a unique and complimentary programme of exhibitions and public engagement. The centre and gallery will share a Director, management team and operating costs as well as facilities such as the education suite and commercial facilities including the Art and Design Shop and cafe.
Renowned New Zealand architect Sir Miles Warren, often cited as the father of New Zealand architecture has said about the design for the Len Lye Centre: “Pattersons have designed a stunning building, a superb concept worthy to house and enhance Len Lye’s work.”
Len Lye Foundation
Shortly before Len Lye’s death in 1980, arrangements were made to establish the Len Lye Foundation. In accordance with the artist’s Deed of Trust, his collection of work returned to New Zealand, the country of his birth.
Lye’s archives, sculpture, painting, textiles, and photographic work are housed and cared for at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth, where regular exhibitions of his work are held. The New Zealand Film Archive is the repository of the Len Lye Foundation’s film collection.
The Len Lye Foundation is registered in New Zealand as a non-profit incorporated society. Its function is to provide for the conservation, reproduction and promotion of the works of Len Lye and to make facilities available for research. The Foundation holds copyright for much of the material it owns, and is empowered to issue prints of the artist’s films (where copyright and licence allow), authorise the publication of his written work, and to develop and edition reconstructions of his kinetic sculptures. From a vitally creative life of exploration and experiment, the Foundation has inherited a substantial body of work. The existence of the Len Lye Foundation ensures that this work remains an active cultural force.
The Len Lye Foundation is putting considerable resources into researching, restoring and reconstructing Len Lye works, which will be on display in the Len Lye Centre.
Govett-Brewster Earthquake prone status
In August 2012 the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery was identified as having ‘earthquake-prone status’ following detailed engineering evaluations.
Parts of the building were assessed as having a seismic strength of no more than 20 per cent of the New Building Standard (NBS) in the Building Act 2004, meaning the Council regards the building as earthquake-prone under the its Earthquake-Prone Buildings Policy. Funding for the required work will come from the New Plymouth District Council’s existing depreciation fund.
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Reporters:
For more information contact Councillor Lance Girling-Butcher on 06-758 4280 or 027 273 8066; Rhana Devenport on 06-759 0856 or 027 241 0899; Mayor Harry Duynhoven on 06-759 6100 or 021 460 161; Hayden Wano on 06-769 9471 or 027 443 4238; Maria Ramsay (TSB Community Trust) on 06-769 9471 or 027 218 0004; or Cressida Gates for Paul Moore on 06-759 5350.
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MIL OSI – Source: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – Press Release/Statement
Headline: The Govett-Brewster focuses on Len Lye’s years in New York
Len Lye Wind Wand 1960. Photograph Maurie Logie, Courtesy Len Lye Foundation
This summer’s Len Lye exhibition at the Govett-Brewster Art Len Lye: The New Yorker, explores Lye’s early years in New York – between his arrival in 1944 and the emergence of his kinetic sculpture, or ‘tangibles’, in the early 1960s.
The exhibition Len Lye: The New Yorker opens at the Govett-Brewster in New Plymouth on 1 December 2012 and continues to 27 January 2013.
During his career, the New Zealand-born Lye (1901–1980) lived and worked on both sides of the Atlantic, producing some of cinema’s pioneering experimental films before emerging as a leading figure of the kinetic sculpture movement.
After a successful career as a filmmaker in London, at age 45, Lye moved to New York, eventually establishing a new career as a kinetic sculptor.
Curator Paul Brobbel says Len Lye: The New Yorker takes an extensive look into the Len Lye Foundation collection and archives to focus on Lye’s activity in this important but often overlooked period.
Between the familiar poles of Lye’s filmmaking and sculpture, Len Lye: The New Yorker will consider many other aspects of the artist’s work, including rarely seen paintings, drawings, photograms, writings and personal objects, says Brobbel.
“These years were a transitional phase for Lye, reaffirming his status as a pioneer of experimental cinema while also marking his emergence as a unique and inspired figure of the kinetic art movement,” he says.
A selection of both well known and rarely seen films will illustrate the artist’s ongoing engagement with abstract cinema, showcasing both Lye’s relentless technical innovation and a restlessness in searching for new media to pursue his interest in movement.
Lye’s early, tentative steps as a kinetic sculptor will be explored through several works representative of Tangible Motion Sculpture, Lye’s 1961 kinetic performance at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Also opening at the Govett-Brewster is Singular Companions: Sculpture from the Collection (1 December 2012 – 27 January 2013). The exhibition presents works by Australasian artists who employ a wide variety of materials as they explore form, light, sound, space, memory and illusion. More than 20 works from the Govett-Brewster’s permanent collection address ideas of illumination, domesticity, containment, the environment and traditional making techniques. These selected works are either new to the Collection or have not been visible to the public for many years.
ENDS
Image caption: Len Lye, Wind Wand 1960. Photograph Maurie Logie, Courtesy Len Lye Foundation
For more information, high resolution images and to arrange interviews please contact:
Felicity Connell
Communications Manager
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
felicityc@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6715
Kelly Wells
Communications Coordinator
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
kellyw@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6717
www.govettbrewster.com Twitter @GovettBrewster
http://www.facebook.com/govettbrewster
Update contact details
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Behind The Shroud examines the Ahmed Zaoui case. It analyses why after years of the New Zealand Government stating Mr Zaoui to be a risk to the nation’s security, the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, Justice Paul Neazor, found in Zaoui’s favour and set him free. This documentary unearths information that has been cloaked in secrecy. It takes the viewer on a journey into that shadowy world of spies and espionage, and resolves the mystery of the Zaoui case through interviews with key players in the great game, including two secret witnesses who each testified at the Inspector General’s hearings in Auckland, New Zealand.
Ahmed Zaoui successfully stood as a candidate for the Islamic Salvation Front (Front Islamique du Salut or FIS) in the Algerian 1991 general election. After Algeria’s military overturned the elections, a civil war ensued. By 1993, Zaoui fled to Europe. The Military-led Regime tried and convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to death for allegedly “establishing a terrorist organisation to destabilise state institutions and terrorise the population… inciting armed rebellion and assassinations.”
Behind The Shroud investigates: what was found to be an Algerian intelligence service black-flag operation against Zaoui. It reveals new testimony, and concludes with a thought provoking critique of New Zealand’s intelligence apparatus and paves the way for a debate into how western nations can learn from their external assessment failures to ensure they are not used as instruments of third party oppressive regimes.
This documentary features: Two secret witnesses Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Samraoui – Algeria’s former head of intelligence and counter-espionage for north Europe; Prof. George Joffe – UK’s authority on north Africa affairs; Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wilkie – former security intelligence advisor to the Australian prime minister; Dr Paul Buchanan – former US Pentagon security analyst; the late Graeme Hunt – historian and politics commentator; Gerry Cunneen – former New Zealand Police intelligence unit head; Hon Matt Robson – former New Zealand Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs; Keith Locke – former New Zealand Green Party Member of Parliament.
Behind The Shroud includes: interviews with Ahmed Zaoui; and previously unreleased information and footage of the Ahmed Zaoui defence team – Dr Rodney Harrison, Deborah Manning, Richard McLeod – people who took on the establishment and won.
MIL OSI – Source: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – Press Release/Statement
Headline: Nine artists feature in the Govett-Brewster exhibition Sub-Topical Heat: New art from South Asia
N S Harsha Nations 2007. Courtesy the artist and Sakshi Gallery
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery announces the complete list of nine artists in its major all-gallery exhibition Sub-Topical Heat: New art from South Asia (14 July – 4 November).
Works by artists Naeem Mohaiemen and Nusra Latif Qureshi will join those of Bani Abidi, Sheba Chhachhi, NS Harsha, independent publisher Raking Leaves, Gigi Scaria, Imran Qureshi and Sharmila Samant. Sub-Topical Heat is the most extensive and in-depth exhibition of art from the Subcontinent ever presented in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The artists from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will present works driven by the impacts of globalisation on individual lives, new trajectories within tradition, social and political justice, urban and ecological change, myth, gender and collective memory. Their visual languages span a wealth of investigations of materiality through installation, sculpture, photography, drawing, miniature painting, video and photo-media.
Sub-Topical Heat: New art from South Asia showcases the power and breadth of the intellectually rigorous work being produced by artists from South Asia in light of rapid social, political, environmental and economic transformations. It continues the Govett-Brewster’s unique focus within New Zealand on contemporary Pacific and Asian art practice, responding to global shifts in cultural influence and expression and engages with diasporic communities in New Zealand.
The exhibition is curated by Govett-Brewster Director Rhana Devenport with Meredith Robertshawe as Assistant Curator.
The exhibiting artists:
Bani Abidi’s videos manipulate elements of performance, enactment and orchestration to explore the processes of political history, popular imagination and the formation of identity.
Sheba Chhachhi’s photo based multimedia installations investigate gender, ecology, violence and visual culture. Her works explore personal and collective memory and the play between the mythic and the social, recuperating myth and iconography to calibrate an inquiry into the contemporary environment. Chhachhi also creates immersive, interactive artworks.
N S Harsha’s major installation Nations creates a vision of a world united and divided by flags, labour and economic dependencies. The work was shown at the 2009 Sharjah Biennial, United Arab Emirates and is widely recognised as a powerful and multi-layered commentary on globalisation, its interdependencies and problematics.
Independent publisher Raking Leaves collaborates with artists to publish contemporary art projects in the form of books, videos and special editions. The exhibition will include a site-specific reading room dedicated to these collaborations.
Naeem Mohaiemen is a writer and artist working in Dhaka and New York City. He uses text, photo, video and archives to explore histories of the international left, post-partition South Asia and globally interlinked security panic.
Sharmila Samant’s socially engaged works explore social justice within a global and environmental context, highlighting the issue of the exploitation of natural and traditional resources. Samant will be working with the New Plymouth community on an ecological-based project exploring water divination.
Gigi Scaria’s photography and installations investigate political and geographical territories against ideas of contemporary migration, belonging and community. Urban architecture and symbolic structures are reconfigured and re-imagined through his photographs and sculpture.
Imran Qureshi redefines the Mughal heritage of miniature painting, creating figurative works and abstract foliage forms in response to contemporary political tensions, violence and current social conditions.
Nusra Latif Qureshi re-contextualises traditional Mughal painting techniques to articulate contemporary ideas of migrant identity and the presence of women within history.
Sheba Chhachhi, Sharmila Samant, NS Harsha and Gigi Scaria will be visiting New Plymouth for the exhibition opening events, as will art historian and curator Dr Chaitanya Sambrani from the Australian National University School of Art, a leading international specialist on contemporary art from South Asia.
Sub-Topical Heat: New art from South Asia is supported by Asia New Zealand Foundation, Radio Live, Steel Fab Limited and Ara Wines.
Also opening at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in the Open Window gallery (7 July – 25 November) is the new exhibition Namaste, Satkara The Curry Bunch by Auckland-based artist Bepen Bhana. His work and practice examines Indian diasporic constructions of identity through the intersection of Western popular culture and Eastern subcultures.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Please note the extended date 14 July – 4 November 2012.
Also note the exhibition is entitled Sub-Topical Heat: New art from South Asia – not Sub-Tropical Heat
ENDS
Image caption: NS Harsha Nations (installation view detail) 2007. Courtesy the artist and Sakshi Gallery.
For more information, high resolution images and to arrange interviews please contact:
Felicity Connell
Communications and Experience Manager
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
felicityc@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6715
Kelly Wells
Communications Coordinator
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
kellyw@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6717
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MIL OSI – Source: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – Press Release/Statement
Headline: As winter sets in, the Govett-Brewster turns up the heat
Gigi Scaria Someone left a horse on the shore 2009. Courtesy the artist
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery showcases the vitality and breadth of new art from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in its ground-breaking winter season all-gallery exhibition Sub-Topical Heat: New art from South Asia.
The exhibition, open from 14 July – 4 November 2012, will be the fifth in a series of major exhibitions of contemporary Asian art organised by the Govett-Brewster over the last decade. The Gallery’s unique focus on art from the Pacific, Asia and regions beyond European and North American centres responds to global shifts in cultural influence and attention.
Spanning a wide range of media including sculpture, photography, drawing, painting, video and photo-media, the works are personal responses to issues of cultural tradition, social justice, urban and ecological change, myth, gender and collective memory.
Exhibition Curator and Govett-Brewster Director Rhana Devenport says the works highlight the intellectually rigorous art emerging from South Asia in light of rapid social, political, environmental and economic transformations.
“The energy and intelligence of the art from this region is impossible to ignore and is attracting wide international attention.
There has never been an exhibition of this scale of art from South Asia to date in Aotearoa New Zealand. Following previous exhibitions that featured artists from China, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan, it is appropriate that the Govett-Brewster has now turned its attention to contemporary art and artists from South Asia,” Ms Devenport says.
The winter suite of exhibitions is presented with generous support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation along with support from Ara Wines.
The exhibiting artists:
Bani Abidi was born in Karachi, Pakistan and divides her practice between Karachi and New Delhi, India. Abidi’s videos, photographic works and drawings use elements of performance, enactment and orchestration to explore the processes of political history, popular imagination and the formation of identity.
Sheba Chhachhi was born in Ethiopia and lives in New Delhi, India. Chhachhi’s photo based multimedia installations examine and express the experience, history and power of the female consciousness and explores violence, visual culture and ecology.
NS Harsha was born and lives in Mysore, India. In Nations Harsha creates a vision of a world united and divided by flags, labour and economic dependencies. 192 sewing machines are overlaid with hand painted calico flags signifying the countries that make up the United Nations. Nations refers to the outsourcing of labour in response to the demands of world economies, as well as the networks that exist between countries. The work was shown at the Sharjah Biennial in 2009 and is widely recognised as a powerful and multi-layered commentary on globalisation.
Independent publisher Raking Leaves collaborates with artists to publish contemporary art projects in the form of books, videos and special editions. The exhibition will include a site-specific reading room dedicated to these collaborations.
Naeem Mohaiemen is a writer and artist working in Dhaka and New York City. He uses essays, photography and film to explore histories of the international left, post-partition South Asia and global security panic.
Sharmila Samant was born in and lives in Mumbai, India. Samant uses a multi-disciplinary approach, working in photography, installation and video. Her socially engaged works explore social justice within a global and environmental context, highlighting the issue of the exploitation of natural and traditional resources. Samant’s work deals with issues of identity and explores the homogenising effect of commodification in developing economies. Samant will be working within the Taranaki landscape on a new film work exploring water, Te Ao Maori and cross-cultural relationships.
Gigi Scaria was born in Kerala, India and lives in Delhi, India. Scaria’s photography and installations investigate political and geographical territories against ideas of contemporary migration, belonging and community. Urban architecture and symbolic structures are reconfigured and re-imagined through his photographs and sculpture.
Imran Qureshi was born in Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan and now lives and works in Lahore, Pakistan. Qureshi works from the Mughal heritage of Miniature painting, with its emphasis on draughtsmanship and the delicate repetition of decorative motifs and complex layers of colour. He redefines this tradition in contemporary terms in response to political tensions, violence and current social conditions.
Nusra Latif Qureshi was born in Pakistan and now lives in Melbourne, Australia. Qureshi re-contextualises traditional Mughal painting techniques to articulate contemporary ideas of migrant identity and the presence of women within history, engaging with the rich, visual histories of South Asia.
Sheba Chhachhi, Sharmila Samant, NS Harsha and Gigi Scaria will be visiting New Plymouth for the exhibition opening events, as will art historian and curator Dr Chaitanya Sambrani from the Australian National University School of Art, a leading international specialist on contemporary art from South Asia.
Sub-Topical Heat: New art from South Asia is supported by Asia New Zealand Foundation, Ara Wines,
Radio Live and SteelFab.
Also opening at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in the Open Window gallery 7 July – 25 November is a new exhibition by Bepen Bhana. Bhana was born in Auckland, Aotearoa /New Zealand and is of Gujarati descent. His work and practice examines Indian diasporic constructions of identity through the intersection of Western popular culture and Eastern subcultures.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Please note that the exhibition is entitled Sub-Topical Heat: New art from South Asia – not Sub-Tropical Heat
ENDS
Image caption: Gigi Scaria Someone left a horse on the shore 2009.
For more information, high resolution images and to arrange interviews please contact:
Felicity Connell
Communications Manager
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
felicityc@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6715 Kelly Wells
Communications Coordinator
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
kellyw@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6717
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