Island Summers: Historical Milestone for Pacific Arts

Island Summers is a Pacific arts exhibition that commemorates a decade of Christchurch’s Pacific Arts Festival. Curated by Stephanie Oberg, the show features a snapshot of art work from the last ten years of the city’s popular festival. Two accompanying exhibitions, “Tiare Maori” and “What-cha Say?” are a reminder that Pacific arts, both traditional and contemporary, continue to flourish in the garden city. The first exhibits the traditional Cook Island art of tivaevae and the relatively new but related art of cotton flower making. The second is an exhibition of talented young Pacific and Maori artists whose work sheds light on what is meaningful for young people today. It includes a video by Browhi productions featuring a local crew of shuffle dancers. Island Summers runs from 12 January to 10 February 2010, at Our City O tautahi, on Worcester St Bridge/ Oxford terrace in Christchurch.