Summer season begins in the south

Happy December. It’s nearly time for the annual summer viewing wrap, but there’s a lot on the list this year so it will come in instalments. First up, some recent activities in the south, with a focus on some shiny things in Dunedin, some stitchcraft in Oamaru, and something else random.

This is the start of a busy six months in Dunedin, leading up to our next symposium in May, Fascination, call for papers here and more details to come. It’s not all about CTANZ, of course, but the coincidence is convenient. iD Dunedin Fashion Week is back at the beginning of April; their programme of events is imminent, and judging for the Emerging Designers awards is underway.

Between now and then, there are other costume/textile activities to keep us sated. As mentioned above, there are some shiny things in Dunedin, specifically at Tūhura Otago Museum. Yes, their lead exhibition is LEGO®, a medium that doesn’t exactly lend itself well to costume let alone textile. But the latest jewel-like exhibition in the Beautiful Science Gallery, The Six Yards Sisterhood delivers all the colour and sheen that we associate with the sari. It’s informed by Rekha Shailaj’s doctoral studies on ‘deconstructing the sari in Aotearoa New Zealand’, aspects of which she’s presented at previous CTANZ symposia. The exhibition opened to coincide with Diwali, and ‘features stunning saris, floor-to-ceiling projections, and insights into Shailaj’s creative process’. It’s a symphony of colour, texture, and cultural pride. On until 23 February, and it just makes you want to grab six yards of fabric and see why this style is one of the great enduring traditions of dress. (For more information, Rekha spoke to Jesse Mulligan on RNZ when the exhibition opened.)

Enjoying a longer run at Tūhura is another form of wearable art, with the museum’s idiosyncratic and popular Animal Attic hosting The Kingdom – Animals in the jewellery of Jane Dodd. The 40 pieces on display cover 30 years of singular craft, wit and critique of the human-animal relationship. This one’s on until July next year, so you can add it into your list for things to do in Dunedin when you’re down for the symposium. Again, RNZ has been talking to the artist about her work.

Up the road at Ōamaru’s Forrester Gallery, two other familiar names are exhibiting recent work. Dunedin’s Victoria McIntosh has been inspired by 19th century domestic goddess Isabella Beeton to create Sitting Pretty: The Desserts of Discontent, in which her padding and pearls subvert the trappings of traditional femininity. From the North Island, Caroline McQuarrie works with photography, embroidery and textiles to examine Pākehā colonial histories. Like the Turf continues her mahi in this area, subtly ensuring that the underreported lives of women are woven in to the wider legacy of settlement. These exhibitions run until 26 January 2025.

Over the past few weeks, another textile project has been underway in Dunedin, supported by Dunedin Dream Brokerage with funding from Dunedin City Council. Kari Morseth’s Rope/Walk has turned out to be an event in three parts. The first took place in early November in South Dunedin’s Bathgate Park, where members of the public were invited to work with Kari on creating a flax rope the length of the Donaghy’s Rope Walk building over a couple of weekends. More recently, there’s been a five-day Urban Edition in Lower Stuart Street (4-8 December), where those passing near the Octagon have been able to learn the basics of twisting flax fibre into a strong cable. The flax comes from Kari’s garden, and the project’s initial site reflected the history of the south’s rope making industry. A final twist is that parts of the project have been filmed; this version of the project will be online in due course. For now, you can see more of the photos at https://www.dunedindreambrokerage.nz/projects/rope/walk and hear Kari talk about it on RNZ.

Finally, from this week’s mailbox, Resourceful Craft’s workshop programme for 2025, with workshops in Ōtautahi Christchurch and Rīkona Lincoln, and additional opportunities in Ōtepoti Dunedin and Whakatū Nelson. The textile workshops in this programme (an offshoot of ReKindle) cover rag rugs, patchwork, drop spindle spinning*, felting and darning. Plus there are also monthly weaving and mending clubs in Ōtautahi Christchurch. The full programme with venues is on the rekindle website: https://www.rekindle.org.nz/collections/workshops.

*yes, got that wrong the first time, thanks to Pamela for pointing that out.