Daleks and dinosaurs in residence at Takapuna
Women’s Refuge benefits from 20,000 who will visit the biennial sculpture show
t’s not every day one goes for a walk around the expansive Fort Takapuna reserve and happens across Dr Who’s arch- enemies, the Daleks. Come to think of it, you won’t often see a triceratops there, either.
There’s no cause for alarm, though.
Sculptor and designer Jane Downes has used steel and LED lights, among other materials, to build five impressive- looking but motionless Daleks, while Jack MarsdenMayer’s Triceratops 2016 isn’t going anywhere in a hurry because it’s made of driftwood.
For the next eight days visitors can see these, and around 105 other outdoor sculptures, at the country’s largest sculpture display, NZ Sculpture OnShore. It also includes hundreds of pieces of indoor work and — one of the highlights — the Children’s Sculpture Exhibition.
More than 20,000 people are expected to tour the display on the reserve. It’s testament to the magic of letting New Zealand artists and sculptors explore the far reaches of their imaginations, but also to the women who, back in 1994, started the biennial event.
NZ Sculpture OnShore began when a small group of women, including art patrons Erika Congreve and Genevieve Becroft, were fundraising for the local Women’s Refuge Safe House. Thinking there had to be a better way to bring in much- needed money, they started the Friends of Women’s Refuge Trust and, in 1995, held the first NZ Sculpture OnShore 2016 Fort Takapuna, Vauxhall Rd, Devonport; until Sunday, November 20 Adults $ 15, children $ 5 exhibition at Genevieve’s home on the shores of Lake Pupuke. The scale of the exhibition grew so big that, in 2004, the event was moved to Fort Takapuna. In 22 years, around $ 1.5 million has been raised for Women’s Refuge, making it the single largest source of private funding for the organisation. This year, new curators Anna Harrison and Ross Liew have introduced fresh elements, including A New Light. When the sun goes down, artists show light installations while there’s also live music and food. A New Light is on tonight and tomorrow from 6.30pm. Also advocates of arts experiences for all, Harrison and Liew say there’s magical work to be found in the Children’s Sculpture Exhibition where schools and communit y groups work together to produce some of the most colourful exhibits you’ll see. What’s more, the children’s exhibition is in Fort Takapuna’s historic underground tunnels, gun emplacements and bunkers so if the Daleks and dinosaurs — not to mention wraith- like figures that hang from surrounding trees — get too overwhelming, there’s an enchanted place to seek solace.