NIGHT VISION

We’re kicking off our 2023 Festival with an evening extravaganza of exhibition openings, gallery twilight hours, a Voice Collective gathering, roving performances and our rangatahi-led music gig Tune Up.

Longer days, warmer evenings. Gentle, joyful, connected, and always surprising. Our springtime evening event that invites you to wander our city streets and be enticed into the diverse offerings of Whakatū’s galleries – go on in, explore, discover and see why Whakatū is celebrated as the (small) capital of arts&crafts in Aotearoa. Bring your family, meet up with friends, travel solo – this evening is all about joyful exploring our city’s artistic offerings in a different light. Travel at your own pace, immerse yourself in an artwork, meet the makers, connect with the gallerists and your hosts for the evening.

Visual Arts are only for the wall? We beg to differ: Night Vision invites you to see your city as an arts space – wander along and be surprised by the colourful characters surprising you along the way to the next gallery. We’re taking the arts out into the streets and back again into the galleries, inviting you to both linger and explore.

Take a look at the map of all participating galleries below – to plan your night, check back here for the full schedule of activations and list of all exhibitions as we add more closer to the time.

DOWNLOAD THE GALLERY MAP

NIGHT VISION ACTIVATIONS (more to come!)

IN THE TEMPLE | Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū, 5.30pm | FREE

Hot on the heels of their acclaimed 2021 collaboration, artist Catherine Bagnall and poet Jane Sayle celebrate another collection of watercolours and poems inspired by nature. Jane will read from her ecological poetry collection in the Contemplation Gallery where Catherine’s watercolour paintings will be displayed.

VOICE COLLECTIVE | Refinery ArtSpace, 5.45 – 7pm | Donation

Join the Nelson Voice Collective at the Refinery ArtSpace for a workshop and performance of ‘Tender’ by Blur.
Whether you’re a confident singer or usually too shy in public, Voice Collective provides a safe space to sing your heart out.There are no auditions or rules apart from a focus on manaakitanga, integrity, trust, sincerity and equity – and the joy of singing!

HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT? | Refinery ArtSpace, 7pm | FREE

In this brand new performance and installation work, Bailee Lobb explores the use of sensory supports for sleep, working with light, weight, and posture to develop non-pharmaceutical sleep aids. For the performance, Bailee will select items from the installation for her current sensory needs, prepare herself for sleep and then go to sleep in the gallery. Dreamy!