Gallery gives wall space to lockdown stories

Palmerston North’s Te Manawa gallery is sharing artists’ work that emerged during their Covid-19 isolation bubbles.

Common … Pause is a digitally projected exhibition created as a response to the lockdown. The exhibition opened with blank walls and artists were invited to add their work. It evolved as other artists joined in.

The exhibition plays with ideas of inclusion, connectivity and isolation, which came from New Zealanders sharing a common experience as their ordinary lives were placed on pause.

NOA Open Studio, an arts group based at Palmerston North’s Te Manawa, was the catalyst for the project and its participants were the first to add their lockdown experiences. The stories are shared through images, movies, words and sound.

NOA Open Studio spokeswoman Mirjam De Oude likened the exhibition to a science experiment, because their stories were the unknown and exciting element of the project.

Te Manawa People and Partnerships leader Janet Ellery said Common … Pause was a project born out of unprecedented times and would reflect some discomfort and extremes of the experience.

“It is a bit scary doing something when you don’t know exactly what it will look like, but that is also exciting. We hope people will come and pause, reflect and find some common ground.”

Common… Pause will be on at Te Manawa gallery until Friday 28 August. It is the latest event in the ‘We are all artists’ project funded by the IHC Foundation.

Read more about the exhibition.