Art matters: We could have had national discussion

A Terminator looks over the Secret Power installation. Photo / Nick Ash

In my last column I called for Simon Denny's Secret Power, which is representing New Zealand at the Venice Biennale, to be brought home so it can be exhibited here.

The work, inspired by the leaks of whistleblower Edward Snowden, has attracted a great deal of international attention but - being so far away - hasn't captured much mainstream interest in this country. It is installed at Marco Polo Airport and in the national library off St Mark's Square.

New Zealanders deserve to see this show, not just because Denny is one of our most significant contemporary artists, but also because Secret Power is provoking a discussion about global surveillance in the wider world.

The New Zealand Government is a partner in the Five Eyes surveillance network.

By coincidence, the day that column was published, Te Papa said it would spend $750,000 on acquiring four modified server-rack display cabinets and associated objects from the Venice pavilion.

On the one hand, it represents a considerable investment of the museum's annual acquisitions budget of the $3 million which is spread across history, science, art and Polynesian collections.

It means a display of the purchased items is likely to take place in Wellington some time next year.

But on the other hand, such has been the overwhelming interest in Secret Power that Te Papa has bought just four out of 11 major works from the Venice library site and nothing from the airport installation.

Denny's triumph at Venice has been a fantastic result. But it has also made acquiring the complete show beyond the means of our national museum. In addition, the demand from international buyers makes it highly unlikely the exhibition will be staged again in its entirety.

We are left to wonder what it would have been like to arrive at Wellington Airport to be greeted by the first installation. In the Marciana Library in Venice, where Secret Power was designed to be shown, it is in conversation with the surroundings. Maps from the age of exploration are side by side with the new means by which information is used to exert power. We can only now guess at what kind of national discussion might have started in New Zealand if the show had been put on at an appropriate building in the capital.

The vitrines bought by Te Papa still make their point, but on a smaller scale.

While acquiring Secret Power is out of the question, we can still turn our attention to ensuring a better long-term return on investment after a work has been commissioned and exhibited.

Like most museums, only a small percentage of Te Papa's total collection is on display at any one time.

Making the most of what we have was at the heart of plans for an Auckland-based arm of the national museum announced in 2013 by Chris Finlayson, who was then arts and culture minister. It was argued that a centre based in Manukau would get more of the collection out of the vault and bring it into the most populous city.

These remain sound reasons, even though Te Papa had a loss last year of nearly $9 million. That, in turn, appears to have seen the project put on ice.