Major jewellery exhibit at Auckland Art Gallery

Installation view of Wunderruma. Photographer: John Lake

The largest collection of contemporary New Zealand jewellery will be on display at Auckland Art Gallery from 18 July to 1 November 2015.

Wunderruma: New Zealand Jewellery is curated by two of New Zealand's most prominent jewellers, Karl Fritsch and Warwick Freeman.

The exhibition shows treasures the curators found in their exploration of adornment in Aoteaora New Zealand. It includes works from more than 75 contemporary artists, as well as Maori taonga (treasure) and Pacific and historical jewellery.

Objects made from stone, wood, bone and precious metals sit alongside less traditional works such as a necklace made out of cigarette butts, a motorbike helmet decorated with Maori pattern, a brooch made from a kingfisher bird and a sheepskin necklace.

The inclusion of artworks by artists Colin McCahon, Len Lye, Michael Parekowhai and Rohan Wealleans, also extends the traditional notions of jewellery.

Wunderruma originated when the curators were invited by Galerie Handwerk in Munich, Germany, to create a show for the international jewellery symposium Schmuck in 2014, a tour supported by Creative New Zealand.

For the Auckland Art Gallery exhibition, more than 100 photographs, paintings and objects from the Gallery's collection have been added by Fritsch and Freeman in order to further the study of adornment.

Wunderruma binds the German word wunder (wonder) with the Maori word ruma (room). The title suggests Wunderkammer, or a cabinet of curiosities.

While contemporary jewellery is at the core of the exhibition, fine art and industrial and historical sources which have influenced jewellery making are also included.

Auckland Art Gallery Director Rhana Devenport says Wunderruma is an ambitious New Zealand project.

'The exhibition shows how unique New Zealand is in its approach to jewellery and it will continue to stimulate discussion about the development of adornment in this country.'

Auckland Art Gallery Principal Curator Dr Zara Stanhope says this exhibition contributes to the Gallery's aim to support innovation in art and ideas.

'The new and augmented Wunderruma shows the Gallery's work in supporting the investigation of creative practices, to offer audiences new ways of engaging with our culture and its material forms,' she says.