Rotorua Museum Art Awards 2017: Entries Closing Soon
Thursday, 27 July 2017
Have you got your entry in for the Rotorua Museum Art Awards? Applications close on 11 August so you’d better be in quick. And to help you find some creative inspiration, we’re taking a look back at some of the winning works from our collection.
After a 10 year hiatus, the biennial art awards were reinstated in 2013 and continue to both inspire and celebrate local artistic practice. Past judges have included Courtney Johnston, Director of Dowse Art Museum and Lucy Hammonds, Curator at Dunedin Public Art Gallery who offered insightful perspectives on the state of art within the Bay of Plenty region.
The Rotorua Museum Supreme Art Award rewards works of artistic excellence and, in the past, has been awarded to artists for their technical mastery of their respective medium. In 2013, Kylie Tiuka was awarded the Supreme Art Award for her painting Te Korihi (bird song). Te Korihi, which connotes bird communication through song, is a painterly exploration of the communication with birds through karakia (prayer). A kererū bird is framed within a diamond shape while the broad brushstrokes and colours in the background evoke a sense of energy at play.
Kylie Tiuka, Te Korihi (bird song), 2013.
Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa (2013.15.1)
Artists have also been rewarded for unique plays on form and material as seen in Jane Johnson-Matua’s installation Material Culture Artefacts in 2013. Upon closer inspection, this seemingly careless pile of driftwood is actually made up of individual sculptures made from Rotorua wild clay, making the work a fitting recipient of the Waimangu Volcanic Valley Sustainable Art Award.
Jane Johnson-Matua, Material Culture Artefacts, 2013.
Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa (2013.15.4)
Rotorua Museum Art Awards also provides an opportunity to foster emerging talent. In fact, prior to working at the museum, our very own educator Rebecca Moore was awarded the Friends of the Museum Emerging Artist Award for her painting Sophia’s Vision in 2015. The silhouette figure reveals the unorthodox surface, corrugated cardboard, on which the artist has applied a bold treatment of paint and line. Her refreshing consideration of materials teetered between fragility and spontaneity, and ultimately signalled great potential for her art practice.
Rebecca Moore. Sophia’s Vision, 2015.
Photograph courtesy of the artist.
This year’s judge is renowned curator and writer, Emma Bugden who brings a broad knowledge of contemporary art practices and over 15 years’ experience. She comments,
“Rotorua has such a rich art tradition and it’s wonderful that the awards offer the chance to honour and celebrate the region’s artists. I’m really looking forward to seeing 2017’s range of talent.”
I wonder who our next winners will be?
For more information about entering please visit our website
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