Quiet contemplation has place

IT is easy to think of the hectic 10day arts spree that is the Arts Festival Dunedin as an unrestrained bout of spectacle, with glamorous, beautiful actors and performers sweeping imperiously across stages, their arms akimbo and mouths open wide to unleash a stream of lyrical excellence.

It is, in part.

But the festival also inhabits quiet, dark and sometimes empty spaces where one can find some unexpected piece of mind and a chance to ponder, to contemplate and survey.

The continuous loop video Emaki at Toitu, featured elsewhere on this page, is a good example.

The festival also features the gentle hush and muted hubbub of the art gallery, where oil paintings and etchings hang serenely, ready to be observed and enjoyed at leisure.

Works can perhaps be considered for a moment, then reconsidered after one cuts an arc across the gallery to take in something else, then returns.

They can perhaps be reconsidered after tucking into the sort of biscuits and brie or blue cheeses gallery owners provide for those who get in early at exhibition openings.

They can even be enjoyed after the complimentary wine provided at said openings, even though it’s just a teensy bit after noon, a time before which drinking is often frowned upon.

So enjoy the performance and spectacle of the stage, but don’t forget the value of the spaces where art and quiet contemplation can merge.