Culture

The Dunedin art “scene” is often considered to be “underground.” Seen as the realm of the city’s “alty” citizens, there is a widespread public perception that few students would go out of their way for an artistic experience.

However, for the entirety of last week Dunedin art pervaded the student consciousness, spreading awareness and enjoyment in equal measure. OUSA Art Week is designed to expose students to the art world and provide them with opportunities to participate themselves, and “White Night” accomplished this with aplomb.

Gallery openings can be as low-key as any movie, and yet many still hesitate at the thought of attending one. Perhaps this is because gallery openings can exude a sense of exclusivity, or because people are concerned that they will not be able to “talk the (art) talk.” The White Night Gallery Crawl, however, did away with such misconceptions, bringing people from diverse backgrounds together over glasses of (free) wine.

Despite the distinct lack of cheese (which I’m told was a direct consequence of my being late), this relaxed gallery crawl successfully broke down students’ reservations, and will hopefully prove instrumental in prompting increased student attendance at such events in the future. Many of my flatmates asked me afterwards why I hadn’t made them go to openings before.

White Night took me down alleyways I’ve had my eye on for years. The trail was brilliantly diverse, leading attendees from the Attic to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and then on to Allbell Chambers, Dowling Street and Moray Place. All in all, it transported me far away from the mundane realities of my day-to-day Dunedin existence.

A highlight was being immersed in the Allbell Chambers. All three storeys of the studio-crammed building were open to the public. You could wander causally between the various rooms, each of which had its own special character. Alex Lovell-Smith’s photography studio stood out; professional, streamlined and stylish, it was jam-packed when my flatmate excitedly dragged me in to check out his “Swedish aesthetic.”

Some attendees were more willing to explore Space 4 U (a gay/ bi sauna in Allbell Chambers) than others. One guy went so far as to write off painting as a “dead” medium, and everyone devoted different amounts of time to different spaces depending on their stylistic inclinations. The artworks I remember are the ones other people also pinpointed as their favourites.

I’ve become accustomed to visiting galleries on my own this year, and thus to experiencing new art without the benefit of other opinions to balance my own. To spend a night wandering from gallery to gallery with a bunch of likeminded people, therefore, exposed to a range of opposing viewpoints, was a novel and highly enjoyable experience. As we were leaving Dowling Street studios, a friend expressed a renewed faith in Dunedin. Exploring so many hidden, creative places made us all fall in love with the city just a little bit more.

I’ve focused on the gallery crawl because it was a dynamic event that appealed to many people who hadn’t previously had the confidence to enjoy art in a social capacity. Opening people up to art’s addictive properties was Art Week’s real success.