Ross Giblin
Major names in the arts world have come together to ask for widened consultation on a restructure proposal which would affect Wellington s City Gallery, pictured.
Prominent figures in the arts world – including artists Séraphine Pick and Shane Cotton, and filmmaker Gaylene Preston and actor Miranda Harcourt – are calling on the Wellington City Council and Experience Wellington to slow down a controversial proposal to restructure cultural institutions in the capital. They warn of “clear reputational harm” and “devastating philanthropic retreat” for City Gallery in particular if the proposal proceeds apace. “Slow this process down,” they say in an open letter being published today. “The radical changes you are proposing to this city-owned taonga require transparent and open consultation, allowing the people who deeply care about the gallery to be part of the conversation about where it’s headed.”
by Andrew Wood
I am appalled by the proposed changes to City Gallery Wellington and must express in the strongest terms how wrong-headed I believe it to be.
Elizabeth Caldwell is one of the finest directors of any art institution in this hemisphere and held in the highest regard nationally and internationally. Robert Leonard is a national taonga – few understand the contemporary art scene and its development in Aotearoa as deeply as he does and we would surely lose him to Australia again should his position be disestablished. Such de-professionalisation of an essential national resource and one of Wellington’s cultural crown jewels, is unthinkable.