I was of course unable to resist - infact the exhibition should probably be subtitled "resistance is futile"! I have bought the plate of biscuits below for a friend who has just had a significant birthday and who I have coffee and treats with most Friday mornings.She'd hurt her back rather badly the day I visited the exhibition and I thought that a laugh might be just what she needs - we are still to have the unveiling at our next coffee date, but I'm sure these will raise a good laugh. I was very tempted too by the jellyroll that was amongst the plate of cakes on the right but I resisted the additional calories.
Laughter is one of the great side benefits of the exhibition. Anne, the Gallery owner, told me she is loving all the people coming in and laughing at all the goodies which also include full tea sets, baskets of vegetables, ice creams, sandwiches and lots of floral tributes.
If you are in Wellington get yourself down to Minerva Gallery (http://www.nzquilter.com/), 237 Cuba Street for a good laugh and of course to see all the wonderful textile books that Anne has in stock. It's the new home of New Zealand Quilter. The new shop and gallery is just looking fantastic and the knitted oddities will be there until 2 August!
Over the weekend I also visited Pataka Museum (www.pataka.org.nz/) in Porirua which has the most wonderful exhibition of world textiles there at the moment, as well as a contemporary art exhibition themed around lace and an exhibition of work by the Professional Weavers Network of NZ.
Unfortunately my camera batteries died right after I took this photo of Alison Francis's work "Waitemata - Sparkling Water". One of the friends I went with grabbed me by the arm early in our visit and said I had to come immediately to see this piece - and there it was complete with my favourite curves. What isn't captured by the photo is that the weaving had a film projected onto it of lapping water and waves. It was so wonderful. If this was the only thing I had seen my visit would have been more than worthwhile.
However there was so much more and it was the most marvellous visit. We were there for a talk by Judy Turner, who was the guest curator of Sharing Stories - Textiles from Around the World. Judy has such a wealth of knowledge she is always a pleasure to hear talk. And as well as all the pieces on display there were also lacemakers and weavers working in the gallery and design students from Massey University and Whitirea Polytechnic showing their work. It was a fantastic afternoon - my daughter was quite taken by a number of the pieces and especially by the lacemakers (just great to see her excited by it!).
Fortunately the exhibitions are on until the end of September - I'm willing to bet there will be several more visits and photo opportunities before then! Thank you so much Pataka.
2 comments:
Your small quilt is so pretty! And what a lovely doily find!
Happy stitching!
~Emily
Hey Phillipa, I was there. I was one of the Whitireia people. It all unwinds slowly. See, I'm telling you, we've met. I just know it. I feel it in your work. Then again, having spent the day dropping in to view ur archives, it feels like i know u already.
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