Art gallery on wheels calls on Christchurch creatives
A Belgian couple travelling the country promoting Kiwi art in their pop-up gallery turned home-on-wheels are on the hunt for Christchurch creatives.
Nomadic Art Gallery curators Eugenie Coche and Arthur Buerms wanted to make art more accessible.
‘‘We want to show that art lives independently of its environment, it’s not because it is in a gallery that it is art. Wherever we put art, it is art,’’ Coche said.
The pair’s first exhibition was in Auckland, before they showed at the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival en route to Wellington. While there, they collaborated with a nude body artist and covered the entire truck with white canvas fabric before swinging their doors open.
Pride-goers were welcomed inside to paint the walls, and the artist, covering the space in rainbow strokes. The event, held around International Women’s Day, was also a chance to desexualise bodies and to promote freedom of expression.
Buerms said the New Zealand art scene was extremely diverse, with influences from Pacific, Ma¯ ori and Western artists. The couple wanted to contribute to art scape in the countries they visited, use their entrepreneurial skills and leave a lasting message, he said.
The couple both studied corporate law and organised exhibitions overseas before arriving in New Zealand. They believe their concept for a nomadic art gallery was the only one of its kind in New Zealand and one of a very limited number worldwide.
With the help of donors to their
Boosted campaign and the New Zealand Arts’ Foundation, the Nomadic Art Gallery was transformed, with artists invited to paint on the truck as a reminder of their travels.
The pair also lived in the truck, which included a hidden fold-down bed behind the exhibition space.
Buerms said the main theme of the project was life, with themes of birth, growth, freedom and identity. So far, they have held seven exhibitions, including one published online due to coronavirus.
They planned to stay in Christchurch for two weeks, and hoped to hold several pop-up exhibitions during that time.