Exhibition about the 'uns' of 2020 coming to Rotorua Arts Village

"Unbalanced" by Paulette Teatai-Ariki. Photo / Supplied

An exhibition reflecting on the "uns" that artists experienced in 2020 will be showing at The Arts Village.

Today, "UN: Twenty20 in Review" will open in the Studio Gallery at The Arts Village.

The exhibition is created by the Rotorua-based Qiddity Collective of artists.

"UN" is an exhibition and installation of mixed media, textile art, sculpture, fashion installations, and non-traditional works.

It reflects on the "uns" that the artists experienced in 2020 and is a response to the impacts of Covid-19 and its continued uncertainties.

The exhibition includes a number of collaborative art pieces, with individual works by the collective members also on show.

The exhibited works will also exploring undoing these "uns" beyond 2020.

Vanessa McWilliams, one of the members of Qiddity Collective, says: "We struck upon the idea for this show when we realised how our creativity had been impacted throughout 2020. The works are all unique and showcase some innovative techniques whilst all staying centred around our shared kaupapa and desire to work sustainably."

"Unravelled" by Vanessa McWilliams. Photo / Supplied

The Qiddity Collective is composed of Denise Ria, Karen Hansen, Paulette Teatai-Ariki, and Vanessa McWilliams who are recent graduates of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.

They have diverse backgrounds, skills and areas of interest including knitting, fashion design, mixed media, sculpture, body art, and non-traditional art practices.

"We'd love the community to come show support of our work and join us in reflecting how we move on from 2020," Vanessa says.

Tara Prieto, The Arts Village activities co-ordinator said, "It is exciting to see works drawn from the individual and shared experiences that we all had over the last year".

"This is an exciting exhibition which we are thrilled to host and we are looking forward to sharing this with the public."

It is supported with funding by the Rotorua Civic Arts Trust, and partners, The Arts Village and Avid Business Agency.

Important Dates
● Exhibition opening - Friday, March 12, 5.30pm to 7pm.
● Exhibition Period - Saturday, March 13 to Saturday, April 3.
Note: The nature of the opening night will be subject to change depending on the alert levels.