One on one with Tauranga Art Gallery director Karl Chitham

Tauranga Art Gallery director Karl Chitham reflects on the gallery's past 10 years, and its future. Photo/Andrew Warner

Name: Karl Chitham
Occupation: Tauranga Art Gallery director

You have been Tauranga Art Gallery director for two years. Tell me a bit about your professional background before then.
"I came to Tauranga from a three-year stint as the curator at Rotorua Museum. Past roles have included curatorial positions at Waikato University, Whakatane Museum and Objectspace in Auckland. Before that I was a high school teacher in Auckland for around five years."

Why did being director of an art gallery appeal to you?
"I had been out of the contemporary art world for a while and was really excited about the opportunity to work with some of the amazing people I had been following for many years. Tauranga Art Gallery is one of the newest art galleries in New Zealand and the previous directors had done a fantastic job of putting the gallery on the map. I could see the potential to build on this great work and push the gallery into some innovative areas that might engage new and diverse audiences including all of the recent arrivals to Tauranga from Auckland, Wellington and around the world."

What is your perception of the arts in Tauranga ... are we just gaining momentum or well established?
"The Tauranga arts scene is on the cusp of something really exciting. With the development of the new Arts and Culture Strategy, new developments down at the historic village and in particular with the Incubator, a number of new gallery spaces and initiatives and with events like Tauranga Arts Festival, Garden and Arts festival and Paradox it feels like there is real positivity and enthusiasm for the arts across the city and the wider Western Bay of Plenty."

Tauranga Art Gallery director Karl Chitham. Photo/Andrew Warner

Paradox was a resounding success. What do you think it bought to the local arts community?
"I think the main outcome of Paradox was that it illustrated to the local community what amazing potential there is for the arts in Tauranga both as an economic and promotional tool for the city, but also in terms of the diversity of artistic practice that is possible.
"Beyond the drawcard of the Banksy works, Paradox introduced locals and the many people who travelled from around New Zealand and from across the world to a different, more vibrant side of Tauranga that they may not have known existed."

Where to from here, how do you follow up after Paradox?
"We were incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to partner with TCC on something like Paradox, but always understood that it would be difficult to replicate or repeat the same thing. Next year we will be focusing on a major exhibition that brings together a whole lot of artworks and projects that are interactive or require audience participation. Each project will look at different ideas but they will all have some type of engagement to activate it. We don't want to let too much out of the bag at the moment but definitely keep an eye on our website and Facebook."

Do you think art expectation is evolving with technology? Do people want more than just to see paintings?
"This is an ongoing discussion for cultural institutions all around the world. Because technological advancements are happening at increasingly rapid speed and our attention spans are quickly decreasing, there has been added pressure on cultural institutions to respond accordingly.
"As an art gallery, we try to be more responsive to what is happening in the art world. While many artists have incorporated technology into their practices there is still a large sector of the art audience that like to see and experience more traditional disciplines such as painting, printmaking and sculpture. We try to find a balance - for instance we currently have Bob Jahnke's ATA exhibition on display which has really wowed audiences using the properties of mirrors and light to create these infinity spaces that seem to go on forever.
"Also as part of the Tauranga Arts Festival we have a work by Gregor Kregar in the Baycourt foyer that also utilises light and reflection. We also have other projects coming up in the new year which use 3D mapping and many other technologies, but the goal is not to be purely about entertainment but to also communicate ideas."