An Act of Faith …

Auckland day two, and the weather seems marginally better  - but it’s still wet and windy overall. 

We’d popped into Auckland Art Gallery yesterday, loving the modern extension, and decide a return visit will be a good use of our time today - and in doing so make one of those wonderful serendipitous discoveries! 

We’re interested in the Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera exhibition  - but it seems half of Auckland has had the same idea judging by the queues snaking down the stairs from the second floor exhibition space. It’s worth it though - a perspective on Mexico in the last century as well as a great companion to the Khalo exhibition put on by the V&A a few years back. That focused on Fida’s life and her inimitable style; here, the paintings obviously have far more prominence, though they are seen alongside photographs and contemporary work. I’m struck once more by just how beautiful and stylish she was - as well as her great artistry. 

We leave the exhibition, and decide to try the other show that’s on : Robin White - Something is Happening Here.  Initially, we feel ambivalent; there is something about these 1970’s paintings that we like, flat, simplistic, bold colour-blocked depictions of New Zealand landscapes and portraits - but we certainly don’t ‘love’ them. And we think that’s all there is to it ……

But then we follow through into other rooms and become quite transfixed by what we see. In the 1980s, White moves to Kiribati and there begins a whole new chapter of work influenced by Pacific art, techniques and collaborative working methods. And there is an exploration of ideas linked to the horrors of Hiroshima - something that has long haunted White - and the internment of Japonese POWs. The primary colours of the early works transform to the colours of natural earthy pigments on hand made papers with traditions such as wood blocking and stencilling predominating. 

White’s Bahai faith seems to underly everything she does - a belief in the oneness of humanity and the abolition of racial, class, and religious prejudices. She describes the process of collaboration as ‘an act of faith’ where there is a mutual respect for the  values and ideas of all involved - hence the name of today’s entry. We watch a film of her working on one of her most recent pieces in Fiji, sitting on the floor, explaining how the work ‘That Vase’ was made - a piece where the artists connect to the wider world through the small details of a domestic room, sights and sounds of this beautiful island nation bringing back memories of our time spent there. 

Then just as we leave the exhibition, inspired by what we’ve seen, the sound of close harmony Polynesian singing floats up from the atrium. Here is a demonstration of that same collaborative art-making with various representatives of Pacific art making sitting together on the floor with Robin White herself, making paper, printing, talking, inviting anyone who’s interested to join them. We sit for a while, learning how the huge sheets of paper are constructed, before going to have a word with Robin White, thanking her for the wonderful work we’ve witnessed. Yet again, I’m amazed how little we know of Oceanian art in the UK - and just what we’re missing by our isolation. 

More on the exhibition below. 

https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/exhibition/robin-white-te-whanaketanga-or-something-is-happening-here
 
My main is the collaborative  work ‘That Vase’, with a collage extra of Robin White and the collaborative workshop taking place in the gallery.