Back to business at the gallery
The closure of the Te Manawa art gallery at the beginning of July took many by surprise. Sometimes when passing I saw people trying to open the locked door. Some even knocked in disbelief it was no longer open.
And this led to bewildering confusion about exactly what was going on behind the closed doors – there was talk of a giant exhibition being mounted to showcase the new development plans; ripping out dangerous asbestos in ceiling panels, which we have lived with since its opening 40 years ago with never a worry; rumours walls were being ripped out in a horrifying enactment of the ‘‘gallery without walls’’ policy; and alteration of reception areas. It was a murky unexplained renovation project that few seemed to understand.
The 10-month period mapped out for completion led to a kick-back reaction in the form of an online petition seeking to remove the gallery from Te Manawa, letting it stand alone and getting the gallery back for the community.
The petition was launched by Bronwyn Zimmerman, director of Zimmerman Art Gallery, just across the road from Te Manawa, and it received an impressive response – nearly 2000 signatures so far.
Ten months have been trimmed to three and, with jubilation, we can say the art gallery is back. But what to do when you cancel an exhibition schedule and then cancel the cancellation? Luckily, the Te Manawa Art Society has built a reputable collection, most dating from the 1970s and 80s, the gallery’s heyday.
This, along with works from the city’s permanent collection, are on display for the reopening, taking the treasures out of storage and putting them out on view. This has been requested for years by the public – a frequent complaint is so little of the collection can be seen.
How do you make a collection of works alive and vibrant? How do you update it, so it can be presented in a new way? The answer has more to do with smart thinking than big spending.
Three people were put in charge of the redevelopment, becoming ‘‘The Team’’. The collection manager, or registrar, if you’re old fashioned like me, is Toni Edmeades. Rohan Kidd does design and development and the production manager is Graeme Slimin, but you sense it is a more freewheeling harmony than a tight formation of roles. They were given six weeks to achieve a transformation and their response to the challenge was to ‘‘celebrate the collection and invest in new technology and ideas’’.
These ideas in some cases can be incredibly simple, but enormously effective. For example, in Gallery 2, rack 1 and rack 2 from the storeroom have been showcased by moving them into the gallery space, giving a sort-of inside-out experience. The back of house becomes front of house, which is a small step, but, philosophically, is welcoming. The works, by unclipping from the racks, can be easily altered, allowing for the rotation of the entire collection.
There’s a digital feel to the new layout, meaning fiddly paper signage can be done away with. In the front reception, an onscreen map will show what’s on. Titles and details next to the collection racks are loaded to one screen and other screens are mounted throughout to give insights next to art.
Walls have been filled in, making the upstairs space finally seem like a gallery rather than a viewing platform, and irritating poles removed. Now, a stunning large painting is able to stretch across the middle gallery, which previously seemed more like a walkway.
The entrance is a normal doorway, making the space into a giant photography booth where images can be shown directly on the wall. It can also be blackened to work as a video room. This is particularly effective and with contemporary spinning chairs – cool objects by English designer Thomas Heatherwick – it makes for a complete metamorphosis.
But rather than pick on details, what you are most aware of is an energy and enthusiasm, a buzz where people have thrown themselves into creating the best. This is the best the gallery has looked in a decade. It’s thinking smart that has made the difference, plus a bit of love.